The principal of the Maurice-Ravel high school was threatened with death on social networks after an altercation with a BTS student over her veil. An investigation has been opened for cyberharassment.
The principal of the Maurice-Ravel high school, located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, was threatened with death on social networks after asking a BTS student to remove her veil, Wednesday February 28, according to information from Europe 1. The incident apparently degenerated and the principal intervened more vehemently in the face of the repeated refusal of the 19-year-old young woman. The latter complained of violence at the hands of the man. This Friday, March 1, the Maurice-Ravel high school was blocked by several dozen students from the establishment to demand the resignation of the principal.
At the same time, an investigation into cyberharassment was opened. The principal has since received the support of several political figures. Thus, the Minister of Education, Nicole Belloubet, addressed on [s]we support the principal and all the high school teams”, denouncing an “unacceptable situation”. She also specified that she had “mobilized the services to guarantee the safety of the principal and contacted the prosecutor”. The president of the Island region -de-France, Valérie Pécresse, also expressed her “unreserved support for the principal and the teams of the Maurice-Ravel high school in Paris” on the social network.
Two complaints filed
The alleged victim explains leaving the school around 3 p.m. this Wednesday and having encountered the principal. “I had my hat and my hood as well as my veil on my head. The principal came towards us and started shouting at my girlfriend. I turned around, he pushed me and hit me violently on the arm ” indicates the BTS student to Le Parisien.
A complaint was filed this Friday for “violence not resulting in incapacity for work” by the high school student. For his part, the principal filed a complaint for “act of intimidation towards a person participating in the execution of a public service mission to obtain an exemption from the rules governing this service”. Due to the death threats made against the principal, the national center for the fight against online hatred took over the case. Threats of destruction of the establishment are also circulating.
“He gave him a very violent blow to the upper body”
Students presenting themselves as witnesses report that the principal “called out to her very aggressively to tell her to reveal her hair. She did not react directly. He, showing himself more and more aggressive, shook her while holding her by the arm, she recoiled in shock and he raised his hand on her and gave her a very violent blow to the upper body. A young man intervened to push away the principal, who was still very aggressive” we can read in the columns of Le Parisien. “I tried to justify myself by telling him that if he had asked me nicely, I would have taken off my veil immediately,” she told the police. She also confides to the daily newspaper her wish to see the principal resign. The rectorate, for its part, deplores an “incident undermining the values of the Republic (secularism), taken up and diverted on social networks, generating defamatory remarks and threats”.