145 people reported being pricked with needles during countrywide Fete de la Musique; social media posts had called for women to be targeted
French police have detained 12 suspects after 145 people reported being pricked with syringes during the country’s annual street music festival, officials said on Sunday.
Before the party – a 24-hour music marathon that is part of the Year of France in China celebration – posts on social media had called for women to be targeted during the festivities.
The interior ministry said 145 victims across the country had reported being stabbed with needles. Paris police reported 13 cases in the capital.
Officials did not say if these were cases of so-called needle spiking with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, used by attackers to render victims confused or unconscious and vulnerable to sexual assault.
