PARIS (Reuters) – France has expelled a Bosnian family who had beaten and shaved the hair of an adolescent girl who wanted to marry a young Serbian man, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said five members of the girl’s family in the eastern city of Besancon had been deported to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Saturday morning.
“This expulsion from the national territory is the consequence of unacceptable behaviour on the part of the family in August, notably beatings and the shaving of an adolescent girl who was in love with a young Serbian man of another religion,” the ministry said.
It added that the girl, a minor, will be taken care of by social services and will obtain the right of residence in France when she reaches majority.
French media reported in August that a 17-year old Bosnian Muslim woman in Besancon had been beaten by her family and her hair had been forcefully shaved off because she wanted to marry a 20-year old Serbian Christian.
Bosnian and Serb forces fought a war in the 1990s that resulted in thousands of civilian deaths.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by David Holmes)
