Two more people have been detained on suspicion of crimes at Sigtunaskolan, a boarding school in Sweden, according to court documents cited by SVT Nyheter. The detentions bring the number of suspects in the case to five, after three students were remanded in custody earlier.
The two newly detained individuals are held on suspicion of assault, with one of them also suspected of unlawful coercion, the Prosecution Authority told SVT Nyheter. They have not yet been formally charged.
Three students in their late teens were remanded in custody on suspicion of several serious offences. Two of them face suspicion of aggravated sexual molestation, aggravated unlawful coercion and aggravated assault, while the third is suspected of unlawful coercion and assault, SVT Nyheter reports.
Why it matters
The case has drawn attention to conditions at one of Sweden's older boarding schools, where prosecutors and defence lawyers alike say the alleged incidents grew out of a broader culture in which older students punish younger ones. According to SVT Nyheter, the alleged victims are younger pupils at the school.
The investigation has widened since it began. Police carried out an operation at the school about a week before the latest detentions, and three students were remanded in custody after that. The case initially involved three complainants, but more have come forward as the inquiry has progressed.
Evidence search and further questioning
Senior prosecutor Lisa dos Santos said in a press statement that officers carried out an operation at Sigtunaskolan as part of the ongoing investigation, describing it as a search for evidence. She said the inquiry would continue with interviews of those involved.
The detained students deny wrongdoing, as does one of the two newly detained suspects. The defence lawyer for the fifth suspect declined to comment, according to SVT Nyheter.
Reporting on the case has come from several Swedish outlets. Sveriges Radio described the latest development as a fourth suspect, while Aftonbladet reported an additional suspect in what it called the Sigtuna case. Dagens Nyheter has covered the wider question of silence within Sweden's boarding schools.
What happens next depends on whether prosecutors seek to have the two new suspects formally remanded, and on the pace of the evidence review following the school operation.
