Roma teen, 16, left for dead in a shopping trolley after Paris vigilantes kidnap and torture him over suspected burglary

                      

Attack: A 16-year-old boy, who lived on this illegal Roma camp, is in a coma after he was allegedly beaten by vigilantes following a suspected burglary.    

These are the shocking pictures of a Roma teenager who was beaten and left for dead in a supermarket trolley.
Vigilantes kidnapped the 16-year-old boy, known only as Darius, from the camp he shares with his family near the northern commuter town of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris.


The thugs rang the youngster's mother demanding a €12,000 ransom for the safe return of her son. The figure was later reduced to €4,000, but when it was not paid, the gang battered Darius before dumping him in a shopping trolley before leaving it on the roadside.

                           

                           

The teenager, known only as Darius, left, was found dumped in a shopping trolley by members of his family, right, after he was brutally assaulted by the vigilante gang on the outskirts of Paris on Friday night

Doctors in a Paris hospital have placed Darius in a medically induced coma following Friday's brutal assault, which has left him fighting for his life.
Police confirmed that Darius was set upon on Friday night by a ‘dozen masked men on waste ground around Pierrefitte,’ according to a police source.
The boy's mother has told detectives that she received a call from the vigilantes on his abandoned mobile phone.
The shocking photographs first appeared on The Telegraph.
They were first alleged to have asked for around £12,000 before reducing the demand to around £4,000, saying he would be hurt if the ransom was not met.
Nothing was paid in the end, and Darius was left in the trolley close to the illegal Roma camp in the northern suburb of Pierrefitte where he lived, according to local prosecutor Sylvie Moisson.
Ms Moisson said Darius was held in a basement by men wearing masks and carrying weapons after he was linked to a burglary.

 

Calling the attack 'an act of barbarism', she said the burglar's description fitted that of Darius, who was 'quickly hunted, kidnapped, held, beaten and left to die.'
It was his mother who reported the attack, and the victim was found shortly after 11pm on Friday.
A spokesman for the Lariboisiere hospital in Paris said Darius was still in a 'chemically induced coma' because of the pain he was experiencing.

Attack: A 16-year-old boy, who lived on this illegal Roma camp, is in a coma after he was allegedly beaten by vigilantes following a suspected burglary

Accusation: The horrific assault happened after the 16-year-old, named only as Darius, was accused of stealing from people's houses in the northern commuter town of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine

Attack: Darius, who lived with his family in one of dozens of illegal camps set up by Roma gypsies, mainly from Bulgaria and Romania, was set upon on Friday night

French president Francois Hollande said the incident was an 'unspeakable and unjustifiable attack on all the principles on which our republic was founded'.
In turn, critics said Mr Hollande's government had stigmatised the Roma.
Prime minister Manuel Valls last year insisted that the Roma 'could not integrate' and should be sent back to Romania or Bulgaria, even though many are EU citizens.
Charity and human rights groups were furious in April when a leaked police memo called for the 'systematic eviction' of Roma from Paris.
A spokesman for Charity group Catholic Help described the note as a 'scandal', saying that it 'stigmatised a poor community' and amounted to 'racial profiling'- something which is illegal in secular France.
Prime Minister Valls has continued a policy started by former president Nicolas Sarkozy of razing Roma camps, and trying to deport as many of their occupants as possible.

Demands: Although the vigilantes allegedly asked Darius's mother for a ransom, nothing was paid and he was left in a trolley close to the illegal camp

Anger: French president Francois Hollande said the incident was an 'unspeakable and unjustifiable attack on all the principles on which our republic was founded'

This has led to protests from a number of human rights groups, including Amnesty International, which points out that most Roma France are Romanian or Bulgarian and as such are EU citizens with the right to live and work in the country.
In 2011, France's then Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the notoriously poor and corrupt eastern European states were responsible for exporting some of the most notorious sneak thieves in the world.
It has led to Romanian police arriving in Paris to support their French counterparts in clampdowns on the Roma.

Policy: Prime Minister Manuel Valls has continued a policy started by former president Nicolas Sarkozy of razing Roma camps, and trying to deport as many of their occupants as possible