“It was ultra-violent,” the terrifying story of a family who was the victim of a homejacking on the night of PSG’s Champions League victory
“Worthy of a horror film.” Le Parisien reported this Tuesday evening the chilling testimony of a forty-year-old woman who was the victim of a homejacking on the evening of PSG ‘s Champions League victory on May 31. While several incidents marred the capital on the sidelines of the celebrations of this unprecedented European championship title, this family living in a house in the 16th arrondissement, a stone’s throw from the Parc des Princes where a retransmission of the match was organized on a giant screen, lived a real nightmare.
“I don’t know how I didn’t lose consciousness…”
On the night of May 31 to June 1, Catherine was awakened around 3 a.m. by loud noises while she was with one of her two daughters and a friend of the latter. “At first, I thought it was firecrackers or mortars from the party that were going off, ” she says. She then got up to check before coming face to face with two hooded men, who violently assaulted her. “They aimed at my face, my eyebrow, my temple, and the back of my head. I was bleeding profusely. I don’t know how I didn’t lose consciousness.” “It was ultra-violent (…) totally uninhibited individuals for whom life means nothing,” continues her partner, who was absent at the time of the incident.
Preliminary investigation opened for attempted murder and aggravated robbery
The two men forced the woman to empty her safe under threat, a loss estimated at 50,000 euros, which could have been greater if they had had time to seize her car… “It’s like rape, you’re at home, you think you’re safe, and suddenly people come in, hit you, rob you,” Catherine explains. The images come back constantly. I relive this scene every night.”
She and her daughter are receiving psychological support, while the family has indicated that they plan to move. “This house that we loved so much has become a place of anxiety.” A preliminary investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office for attempted murder and aggravated robbery.
While the attackers cannot be identified as PSG supporters, the capital club’s unprecedented victory seems to have made their task easier, as law enforcement was so focused on securing the celebrations in the capital that evening. In addition to the violent attack on Catherine and her family, numerous burglaries were recorded during the night of May 31 to June 1, according to Le Parisien : 21 in total, compared to just one the same night the previous year.
