Two Auckland teenagers were assaulted by five men on a train last weekend. It is believed one of the pair was targeted because of his appearance, with the attacker’s motivation being homophobia.
A 15-year-old girl and her straight, male friend were traveling home from Britomart to Avondale when they were confronted by five drunk men, wearing Four Square costumes and masks, at around 5.30pm on Saturday.
The girl’s mother Jen de Montalk posted about the incident on social media and says that one of the men told her daughter to put her hand in his apron pouch before he exposed his penis to her.
“Then one of the other guys suddenly took a disliking to the boy she was with. He called him a faggot, rolled up his sleeves and started choking him,” Montalk told the NZ Herald.
“They for some reason had decided my daughter’s friend was gay and decided to attack him. He is not gay, he is just a skinny kid, but their motivation was homophobia.”
The girl tried to push the men off and called to the train staff for help while passengers on the train filmed the incident but neither train staff nor general public helped the teenagers. The video has since gone viral.
The Police are now talking to two men who have come forward in regards to the assault, which they say was completely unprovoked. They are aware of the identities of the other three men.
Auckland Transport is also investigating the assault.
