Paris student protest over 'police assault' turns violent

A student protest on Thursday in the wake of an alleged rape of a young man in a Paris suburb earlier this month ended in confrontations between protestors and police officials.

About 1,000 school students staged an unauthorised protest in Place de la Nation in Paris, calling for "revenge" over the trauma suffered by Theo, a 22-year-old black man who was hospitalised for an anal tear after police officers allegedly sexually assaulted him with a nightstick, Efe news reported.

A group of youth made graffiti, smashed shop windows and threw objects at the police, who then responded with teargas.

The protesting students had previously blocked the entrances to about 20 high schools with piled up trash cans. The demonstration began peacefully, though a large number of security forces were deployed.

Four police officers accused of being involved in the case were suspended pending an inquiry.

The police said it carried out only a handful of arrests and called the protests "unlawful" because no prior permission had been granted, according to the local media.