An Argentine woman accusing two French international rugby players of rape was savagely beaten by her assailants, her lawyer said on Wednesday, while the men claimed the encounter was consensual.
Hugo Auradou, 20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, are waiting to be transferred to Mendoza, where the assault allegedly took place and where they would be questioned by prosecutors. They have not been charged with a crime.
The men were arrested in Buenos Aires on Monday, two days after a Test match against Argentina, when investigators determined the alleged victim’s injuries were consistent with her account of rape.
Photo: AFP
The woman’s lawyer, Natacha Romano, on Wednesday said that her client had suffered “fierce” violence at the hands of her assailants, with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as various bite and scratch marks.
She said the woman had gone with one of the men from a nightclub to a hotel room, where she alleges she was held against her will and abused for several hours.
“The violence was fierce,” Romano said. “There is more than one crime to investigate.”
The woman claims to have been raped “at least six times” by one of the men and once by the other, the lawyer said.
She allegedly tried to escape several times.
Lawyer Rafael Cuneo Libarona, who represents the players, said that “sexual relations” had been “consensual.”
The alleged attack took place on Saturday night at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where France’s players and staff were staying for a Test match as part of a South American tour.
“There are witnesses who saw her leave [the hotel], there are cameras that saw her leave, apparently no injuries are seen in the footage,” Libarona — who is the brother of Argentine Minister of Justice Mariano Cuneo Libarona — told journalists.
Romano said that “the overwhelming proof that there was no consent is the victim’s body” and the wounds it bears.
If the men are charged, she would ask the court to remand them in pretrial custody, the lawyer said.
The charge should be “sexual assault with carnal access,” the Argentine legal definition for rape, along with use of violence, she said.
Mendoza prosecutor Daniela Chaler on Tuesday told LV10 radio there were “convincing elements” in the statement the woman made and that her injuries were compatible with her version of events, although they were not “necessarily exclusive” to sexual assault.
The French Rugby Federation said the players have denied any coercion or violence, and stressed the importance of giving them an opportunity to make their case.
“If the facts are true, they are incredibly serious,” federation president Florian Grill told reporters in Argentina.
Grill later said the players have “a quite different version” of events to that of the woman, with “a lot of inconsistencies.”
“We are not judges, we are not investigators, but we think that the Argentine justice system should look at the case very quickly,” he said.
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