An 11-year-old girl – she is now 12 – was approached on November 19 on the first floor of the Màgic shopping center in Badalona (Barcelonès Nord) by six young men who threatened her with a knife to force her to accompany them to the toilets. There she was raped and threatened with death if she screamed. The Mossos immediately opened an investigation and located five of the six attackers, all of them minors.
As the victim has recounted and the journalist Anna Punsí has ??reported on TV3, around 1:00 p.m. that Saturday, the young woman went to look at clothes at the Màgic de Badalona. Going up to the first floor, she perceived that someone was watching her until she was surrounded by six teenagers who threatened her with a knife and forced her to go to a bathroom located in a secluded area from the central corridors. There, according to what they have related, they raped her.
The attackers threatened to kill her if she yelled, left her lying in the public toilets and later fled. When the victim got up, she went out into the central corridor and tried to tell what had happened to a security guard, who not only did not give her credibility, but also forced her to leave. This watchman could not be identified, nor did the uniform described by the assaulted match the usual ones at the center, so it cannot be ruled out that he could be one of those hired by the businesses themselves.
The victim’s family did not know the facts until December 15, the date on which they filed the complaint, when the little girl’s brother came home angrily and commenting that a video was circulating in which his sister was seen engaging in sexual activities with various individuals. It was at that moment that the young woman, according to Anna Punsí’s account, “sank” and explained everything that had happened.
The victim is a “very childish” girl who still “watches cartoons” who is not fully aware of the seriousness of the events, according to the first information. Her older sister has told TV3 that the young woman is currently undergoing psychiatric and pediatric treatment at the Germans Trias and Pujol Hospital in Badalona. They also detail that after the events, the young woman changed her character and locked herself in her room a lot, from where she did not want to leave it.
The school where the victim was in fifth grade, whose name has not been disclosed since “it is a safe space for the victim” has also stated that they learned of the facts through a former student and that the victim did not want to explain anything. It was the minor’s tutor who extracted all the information from her, after which all the aggression protocols of the Department of Education were activated.
For their part, the Mossos d’Esquadra, recognize that the Unitat de Menors, maintains an investigation open, that they have visualized the security cameras and that it has acted on the aggressors who are between 11 and 13 years old, whom they arrested at first instance on February 13. In a round of photographic identification, the minor clearly identified five of her aggressors, so it is not ruled out that they are known habitual criminals. A sixth assailant is still in search by the police.
Of the five detainees, two are over 14 years old and it is assumed that they may be between 16 and 17 years old, for which reason they have been detained by the Prosecutor’s Office. One of them has entered a closed regime youth center, while another has been released under supervision. The remaining three are under 14 years of age and therefore cannot be charged with any criminal offense and are free.
After knowing the facts, the Barcelona City Council has declared that it is unaware of the situation and that it is an exclusive investigation by the Mossos of which they are unaware.
