Four teenage boys were charged Thursday in the vicious May attack of a lesbian couple on a London bus, British police said.
The boys — who range in age from 15 to 17 — were charged with an aggravated hate crime for allegedly beating the women bloody on May 30 when the pair refused to kiss in public.
Melania Geymonat, 28, who is originally from Uruguay, and her partner, only identified as Chris, 29, an American, said they were on their way back from a date on the top of a double-decker bus when the homophobic teens began to harass them.
“They started making some really aggressive comments about us being lesbians and sexual positions,” Geymonat, a flight attendant, said in an interview last month.
She also wrote in a Facebook post, “They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching.”
The situation turned violent, leaving the women with facial injuries.
“The next thing I know is I’m being punched,” Geymonat wrote. “I got dizzy at the sight of my blood and fell back. I don’t remember whether or not I lost consciousness. Suddenly the bus had stopped, the police were there and I was bleeding all over. Our stuff was stolen as well.”
The suspects were not publicly identified because of their ages.
One of the boys, a 16-year-old, was also charged with possession of cannabis. Two others, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old, were also charged with handling stolen goods, according to the Guardian UK.
They are scheduled to appear at Highbury Corner youth court Aug. 21.
With Post Wires