PARIS (Reuters) – Two French teenagers are being investigated for murder after police fished the body of a drowned student in the River Seine, prosecutors said on Wednesday in a case that shocked France.
Prosecutors said the teenagers, a boy and a girl, both 15, met the 14-year-old girl they knew in Argenteuil, west of Paris. The boy hit her and with the help of his girlfriend he threw her into the river, where she drowned.
“Two minors are being investigated for murder, premeditated murder,” Pontoise city attorney Eric Corbaux told reporters.
Asked about the possible reason for the attack, Corbaux said there was rivalry between the two girls and the theft of photos of the victim. All three attended the same school.
French media reported that the victim had been bullied at school and that nude photos of her were hacked and posted on social media.
The boy’s mother told BFM TV that her son had a brief relationship with the victim before meeting his current girlfriend.
“I think it was kind of a love triangle and they couldn’t handle it,” she said.
The victim’s mother said the two suspects had made death threats against their daughter. “They took my heart out,” she told BFM TV.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Gareth Jones)