Teen Charged With Crime For Using Pepper Spray On Rapist Thanks To Denmark’s Strict Weapon Laws
A teen girl was attacked in Denmark as a would-be rapist attempted to rip off her clothing. However, the girl was prepared to fight back and sprayed the attacker with pepper spray. The attacker fled and the girl narrowly avoided being raped. Despite her horrifying ordeal and that fact that the pepper spray saved her from the rapist, the 17-year-old Danish girl was charged with a crime as pepper spray is illegal in the country, which maintains strict weapons laws. Sadly, the rapist was not caught, so the only one facing charges for the would-be rape is the young victim who protected herself from the attacker.
TVS, a local Danish TV channel, reports that a 17-year-old girl was allegedly attacked in central Sønderborg at around 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. The teen was confronted by a man that she described as “dark-skinned” and spoke English. She says that he told her in English to come with him but she refused. When she denied his advances, the man allegedly hit her and threw her to the ground. After getting the teen girl onto the ground, the man then began removing the girl’s clothes. However, the girl fought back.
The teen says she was worried about walking alone in Sønderborg as she felt like the police weren’t doing enough to patrol the area. The Tribunist reports that the girl purchased the pepper spray after a rash of sexual attacks in the area by asylum seekers and refugees. She claims that the police in the area were patrolling the area but not doing enough to protect the women and girls that walked in the area. Therefore, she said that pepper spray was her best option, despite it being illegal.
girl who was sexually attacked in Sønderborg will herself face charges https://t.co/SW26lW85us b/c self defence is not a right in the EU
— Shane (@spartacus90210) January 27, 2016
Turns out the teen was correct. She was attacked by a man in Sønderborg when there were no police on patrol. Therefore, she immediately reached for her pepper spray to ward off the attacker after he allegedly threw her violently to the ground and began removing her clothes against her will. She says the man would have raped her had she not sprayed him directly in the face with the protective pepper spray. After the man was sprayed, he immediately fled the area.
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Following the attack, the teen girl reported the crime to police. However, she never expected that she would be the one facing criminal charges instead of her would-be rapist attacker. When the teen girl explained what had happened, police noted that they would be required to cite her for using pepper spray which is illegal in Denmark.
A local police spokesman, Knud Kirsten, told TVS that charges likely will be brought against the teen because despite her use of the pepper spray being in self defense, she was carrying a contraband item on her person.
“It is illegal to possess and use pepper spray, so she will likely be charged for that.”
Police have been unable to identify the teen’s attacker, so the 17-year-old girl is the only one currently being charged with a crime. The girl’s fine will likely be 500 kroner which is equivalent to $74 USD. However, many say that the teen should be praised for her efforts of self defense and that Denmark should strongly reconsider its laws regarding pepper sprays.
Ah, the madness: Girl charged with defending herself against #assault. https://t.co/xFM8lTGykW #europe #Sonderborg
— Alan Poirier (@alan_poirier) January 27, 2016
What do you think about Denmark police using the weapon law to charge a teen girl who used pepper spray to defend herself against a would-be rapist? Should Denmark reconsider the pepper spray ban?
[Image via Shutterstock]
