“Since Friday, I’ve been thinking about that all the time,” Viry-Châtillon still traumatized after Shemseddine’s death

Thibaud Hue / Photo credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP 7:43 p.m., April 8, 2024

With reddened eyes, Sarah, a schoolgirl, leaves a rose in front of her establishment in tribute to her deceased friend. This friend is Shemseddine, this 15-year-old teenager lynched to death after school last Thursday in Viry-Châtillon in Essonne. His funeral will take place this Tuesday. In this case, four young people are behind bars, including the two brothers of a 15-year-old girl. They allegedly organized this beating to protect the reputation of their little sister. Insufficient to erase the trauma of the young man's friends, still shocked by the barbarity to which he was a victim. 

"I say to myself, 'But how could they hit him with their fists until they died?' He must have suffered a lot before dying, that's why it affects me. Since Friday, I haven't been well, I think about that all the time," Sarah testifies. 

“It hurts my heart to know that he died for this”

Next to her, Nélia is angry. The supposed reason for the tragedy, namely messages exchanged between the victim and the attackers' sister, is unbearable for him. "Every time there is a problem with a boy, you have to go wait for him and kill him? That's no reason and it hurts my heart to know that he died for that." 

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On this sidewalk, many passers-by stop and look at the flower bed. Alina, a neighbor, says she is worried about her son who will soon go to school in the city. "I'm thinking about my son's future. We have to make our choice soon, so we're afraid it will be bad. It's gone crazy here, we don't know what to expect." In a town where emotion is still strong, everyone is waiting for Tuesday's funeral, as well as the white march to say goodbye one last time to Shemseddine.