Two French rugby players charged with aggravated rape

Two French international rugby players were formally charged Friday with the aggravated rape of an Argentine woman after a night out following a match, according to prosecutors.

The accused, Hugo Auradou, 20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, chose not to testify at a hearing in the city of Mendoza, where the rape is alleged to have occurred after a game between France and Argentina on Saturday.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement it had "proceeded to formally charge the two French citizens... for the crime of sexual assault with penetration, aggravated by the participation of two people."

The pair will remain in custody as further investigations are carried out. A request by the defence for them to be placed under house arrest "will be resolved in due course," the statement said.

One of their defence attorneys German Hnatow, told journalists his clients would give a statement "which is consistent and congruent, and of course is quite different from what the victim has said."

He said his clients were "sure of their version, they are calm because they know they are innocent, but of course they are worried about this whole situation that they have had to live through."

The two men were arrested Monday in Buenos Aires after a 39-year-old woman accused them of raping her multiple times and beating her in a Mendoza hotel room after the match, part of a tour of South America by the French national squad.

The men deny the accusation, saying they had consensual sexual relations with the woman.

Hnatow said he believed house arrest would be possible "as long as the risk of flight and the obstruction of evidence can be mitigated."

Alleged victim hospitalised

The players were transferred Thursday by car from Interpol's Buenos Aires headquarters to Mendoza, some 1,000 kilometres west (620 miles).

Meanwhile, the 39-year-old woman's lawyer, Natacha Romano, said her client was hospitalised Thursday after feeling ill emotionally and physically "because of everything that happened."

Psychologist Nicolas Yungman, who was not treating the woman, told local media that her symptoms, as described, could be indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The woman will receive treatment at a health facility for 24 to 48 hours, Romano said.

If found guilty, the players face between eight and 20 years in prison.

Defence attorney Romano told AFP on Wednesday her client had suffered violence at the hands of her assailants in a hotel room, with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs as well as bite and scratch marks.

The woman claims to have been raped "at least six times" by one of the men and once by the other, according to the lawyer.

She allegedly tried to escape several times.

The attack allegedly took place Saturday night at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza, where France's players and staff were staying after beating Argentina.

'Violence was fierce'

Romano told AFP the woman had gone with one of the men from a nightclub to a hotel room, where she alleges she was held against her will and abused for several hours.

"The violence was fierce," said Romano. "There is more than one crime to investigate."

Lawyer Rafael Cuneo Libarona, who also represents the players said "sexual relations" had been "consensual."

"There are witnesses who saw her leave [the hotel]. There are cameras that saw her leave. Apparently no injuries are seen in the footage," Libarona – who is the brother of Argentina's Justice Minister Mariano Cuneo Libarona – told journalists.

But Romano said "the overwhelming proof that there was no consent is the victim's body" and the wounds she bears.

French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Florian Grill, who is in Argentina, told AFP that "we are not judges. We are not investigators. But we think that the Argentine justice system should look at the case very quickly."

Aradou and Jegou have been replaced by lock Mickael Guillard and flanker Judicael Cancoriet for Saturday's second match against Argentina in Buenos Aires.