Fury as France gang rape trial ends with light sentences

PARIS (AFP) - French feminist groups and politicians voiced outrage on Thursday after a court acquitted 10 of 14 young men accused of repeatedly gang-raping two teenagers in a run-down Paris suburb.

A court on Wednesday imposed light sentences on the four others for the alleged repeated attacks on the pair who lived in tower blocks in the tough eastern suburb of Fontenay-sous-Bois.

"We are scandalised by the ruling," said Osez le Feminisme in a statement.

"This verdict sends out a catastrophic message to our society as a whole. To rape victims, it says: Don't file a suit; it's futile. To rapists, it is: Rape is permissible," the feminist group said.