Gang draw swastikas on young mother

A gang of men cut off the hair of a young woman and drew swastikas on her stomach as she travelled on a train in Paris with her baby.

The attack has shocked politicians throughout France, with president Jacques Chirac denouncing the “shameful act” and interior minister Dominique de Villepin told police the find the culprits “as quickly as possible”.

Police said the gang set upon the woman on a suburban train north of Paris on Friday, grabbing her backpack and, after finding identity papers showing an address in the capital’s chic 16th district, said: “There are only Jews in the 16th.”

The young woman, who was not identified, no longer lived in the district, police said.

The gang then pushed her and cut her hair “to keep a souvenir” as other passengers looked on, failing to come to her rescue.

Her 13-month-old child fell from its buggy in the melee but was not seriously hurt.

The attack occurred a day after President Chirac denounced mounting racial intolerance in France, calling for drastic change “at the risk of indifference and passivity”.