On the weekend of January 30 and 31, a young disabled person was assaulted in the Territoire de Belfort, beaten and humiliated on social networks. A few days later, his parents speak out to denounce the violence suffered by people with disabilities.
Four days after the attack on Steven, a young disabled person from the Territoire de Belfort, his parents made a point of speaking on Wednesday for “act, so that all this stopsThe 22-year-old was beaten and humiliated by a group of young people who shared the video on social media.
Steven’s mother can’t talk about her son, the tears flow too quickly. The father, Michel, is shared between the resentment and anger. His son, after going through a denial period, is now bruised: “At first he told me it was okay. Then Wednesday morning, in front of the psychiatrist, he had a big backlash. He took a big blow with the club, he says he has the impression of having lived through an attack, that he was going to end badly. He has a few marks on his face, they shaved him off, he was still tied up. I tell you frankly, we saw it very badly“.
An evening with friends, which turns into humiliation
Steven, 22, passionate about football, is the kind of boy “that everyone appreciates“says his father. Member of FC Sochaux Montbéliard, volunteer at Restos du coeur, “he has his heart on his sleeve“adds his brother-in-law Salvator. That evening, he joined a friend in Dorans in the Territoire de Belfort:”He brought back a cake, and took some things thinking he was sleeping there“.
They were there to hit the disabled
But the evening, planned for only four people, with friends, quickly takes another turn: “He has fallen into a trap. Other people have joined. It is gratuitous violence, they were there to hit the disabled. This is where we see the cowards“. The parents are warned by their young neighbor:”She showed us the videos that were running. We took the car and went to get him. There, we found three other people, but the attackers had left “.
Has the young man already suffered these assaults in the past?
Once home, Steven first tried to downplay the facts. The one who had just gained his independence by renting an apartment told his parents that the assaults “were not much, a few slaps“. For her father, that’s for sure, “if we hadn’t seen the video, he wouldn’t have told us anything. He told us it was a few slaps. That’s why we wonder with the psychiatrist if it was really the first times. That we hit him, and that we force him to be silent? This is why today we say stop, justice must be done“.
On Wednesday, the day that France Bleu Belfort Montbéliard met Steven’s father, five people, including three minors, were arrested and taken into police custody. An investigation is opened for aggravated violence.
Handicapped people are not deadpan
Steven’s parents’ outburst is not just meant to defend their son. The young man’s father says that he regularly attends scenes in which disabled people are ridiculed, brutalized, insulted. “The handicapped are not painkillers, it has to stop”, protests-t-il.
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