In what is probably the most ridiculous story you’ll read all day, a French woman is facing a fine of €45,000 (£40,200) for filming a man who masturbated in front of her on a train, and followed her to the bathroom.
Natacha Bras was travelling from Paris to Poitiers when she says a man sat near her and looked at her while masturbating. In response, she filmed him and posted the video online with the following caption; ‘Poitiers by TGV (around 1h15) with a guy who switches places and sat opposite me, looking at me and who is masturbating…. there’s still work! ‘No reason not to display it so I put the video here! (The most soft of the videos, I say).’
Bras said she filmed the man as ‘it might be my only way to defend myself’, according to The Metro, but she received hate online for posting it, with people calling her a ‘salope’ and asking why she didn’t just move.
Now, she faces a €45,000 (£40,200) fine for breaching the man’s privacy, while he could be fined just €15,000 (£13,400) in comparison. ‘I can be sentenced to a heavier penalty. Do you think it is acceptable?’ was Bras’ reaction to facing a fine, she was told by train operator SNCF to contact the police, which she plans to do, according to The Metro.
Natacha Bras is a computer engineer, and the vice president of MoiAussiAmnesie, which is a French organisation that supports victims of sexual assaults who have amnesia.