Czech Republic: Romani girlfriend of assault victim speaks out
A 17-year-old boy who may have committed a brutal assault on a 15-year-old boy at a bus stop in the Malešice quarter of Prague has identified himself to police. The boy claims the entire event took place differently than has been described in the media and says his actions were committed to defend a friend.
The assailant also denied that the attack was racially motivated. However, Simona, the girlfriend of the victim, has confirmed the initial story of the assault to news server Romea.cz.
"We got off the bus. Those two boys were standing there, staring at Lukáš and everyone else, and they started to comment about Lukáš walking around outside with gypsies. Lukáš walked over to them and asked what their problem was. One of them said yes, the problem is Lukáš is friends with gypsies and then began beating him up," Simona told Romea.cz.
"It’s too bad the video recording of the assault is of such poor quality. If it were better, then what happened would be immediately clear," she said when told the assailant has visited the police and claimed the incident took place differently.
Police spokesperson Jan Daněk said the suspect testified that he was indeed standing at the bus stop with a friend at the time in question. When the bus arrived, a group of young people got off and one of them began to verbally assault the suspect for no reason, saying that if he had a problem then they could settle it.
The 15-year-old then allegedly grabbed the suspect’s friend by the neck and punched him. Concerned that someone else might attack because another boy in the group seemed poised to do so, the suspect attacked the 15-year-old.
He struck the 15-year-old in the face until he fell to the ground. He then claims to have given him water and to have left after the others called an ambulance.
The suspect claims to have no idea what kind of injuries he caused the victim, who is reportedly still in an artificial coma in hospital. According to police a man walking by the Plaňanská bus stop at the time witnessed the assault and prevented any further incidents by breaking up the fight.
This witness could significantly contribute to clarifiying the case if he would come forward. He is described as between 25 and 35 years old, slender, very tall, with brown hair, wearing a dark blue t-shirt and checkered shorts to below the knee and carrying a grey and orange backpack.
