Police say two underage Swedish boys were exposed to almost 10 hours of beatings, torture, and humiliation when they were attacked and dragged to a cemetery by a pair of men with an immigrant background near Stockholm on Saturday night.
A 21-year-old Iranian immigrant and an 18-year-old man born in Sweden to a Tunisian father stripped the victims and raped them, according to police. Throughout the ordeal, they reportedly kept beating them inside Norra Cemetery until Sunday morning when the boys, aged 15 and 17, managed to alert a passer-by who called the police.
Among other things, the perpetrators stabbed the victims in legs to prevent them from escaping, Swedish prosecutor Anders Tordai told SVT Nyheter.
The two young victims are now in hospital being treated for the trauma they suffered. Both suspects were captured running away from the scene in an alleyway and have been charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, robbery, and rape.
They both deny their involvement in the violent attack.
The police do not know the motive for the crime. They are currently investigating the possibility that the perpetrators offered drugs to the young boys, Swedish news outlet Aftonbladet reported. When they did not want to buy them, the aggressors dragged them to the cemetery, where they forced them to undress and then raped them. They were also forced to lie down in a pit in the ground.
According to nyheteridag.se, the 21-year-old immigrant from Iran became a Swedish citizen in 2014. He was sentenced in early July by Nacka District Court to 18 months in prison for an arson attack on a car company. He was also convicted of other crimes such as theft and drug offenses.
The 18 years old was born in Sweden to second-generation of immigrants as his father is an immigrant from Tunisia. He has been sentenced to juvenile detention for attempted theft. If he is convicted, Swedish court will require any sentence he receives to be cut in half based on his age.
Mathias Johansson, who organizes leisure activities for young people, noted that Solna has significant problems with young people and gangs, resulting in many residents now afraid to go home alone in the evening.
Data has shown that rising crime in Sweden is strongly tied to the country’s growing migrant population, which may play a major role in why a majority of Swedes now want to reduce immigration to the country.
