The events took place on Monday at the Lycée Sévigné. Following police custody, the teenager, who had no previous criminal record, will be tried in an immediate court appearance on Wednesday afternoon

Assault in Tourcoing: an 18-year-old pupil goes on trial after hitting a teacher

An 18-year-old student was taken into custody after violently assaulting a teacher at Tourcoing’s Lycée Sévigné on Monday October 7. The incident occurred when the teacher asked the teenager to remove her veil. The girl will be tried in an immediate court appearance this Wednesday afternoon, as reported by BFMTV, citing sources from the Lille public prosecutor’s office.

Background to the incident

The incident took place at around 4.40pm, as the girl was leaving a school outing. Walking through the school corridors, the teacher noticed three students wearing headscarves and asked them to comply with school rules. Two of them agreed, but the third, refusing to comply, challenged the teacher, saying she was about to leave the school.

Faced with her refusal to comply, the teacher tried to remind the student of the prohibition on wearing ostentatious religious symbols. However, the girl continued on her way, ignoring the warnings. In the schoolyard, the teacher managed to catch up with the teenager to insist on compliance, which led to a verbal escalation.

The assault

It was at this point that the tension exploded. The student first pushed the teacher before slapping her, which was reciprocated by the teacher. In a violent gesture, the teenager then pushed the teacher against a wall, kicking and slapping her in front of around twenty students.

The French Minister of Education, Anne Genetet, reacted in a speech to the National Assembly, describing the attack as “violent”. For its part, the public prosecutor’s office described the facts as including “blows, threats and jostling”.