Eva Helgetun

Eva Helgetun

Eva Løvbugt Helgetun (b. 23 August 1996; d. 28 May 2011) was a 14-year old Norwegian girl who committed suicide one month after being raped by three African immigrants on 1 May 2011. The mass media silenced the news.

Life

Assault and rape

On the night of 1 May 2011, Eva Helgetun was at Trondheim International school in Festningsgata, looking for her friends. She was approached by a young man of foreign origin. To her mother she later explained that the man grabbed and kissed her. She still chose to believe the man, when he told her that he wanted to help her find her friends. They walked past the school, where the assault, according to Helgetun's report, started.

She screamed for help and two more men approached. Helgetun first thought they are coming to help, but instead they helped the assailant to pin her down. She again tried to call for help. Two of the men managed to rape her, before she escaped from the third. Then she ran in the direction of Nonnegata, where she met a couple who understood what has happened and helped her.

She reported the hideous crime the same night to the rape reception centre at St. Olav's hospital. The next day, she was at the police station in Trondheim. Her assistance lawyer described her as "cooperative, with a strong desire to explain herself so that the perpetrators could be caught and not do the same to others". She described the perpetrators as teenage boys aged 16–17 of foreign origin.

Death

Suicide

Despite what she had experienced, she had Protestant confirmation only two weeks later. Then came the psychological aftereffects, with sleep problems and great absence from school. Despite a follow-up treatment by a psychologist and a great support from her many friends, she took her own life on 28 May 2011 in Trondheim, Norway.

Resting place

She was buried in the Helgetun family grave at Rindal Churchyard.

See also

• Race and crime
• Taharrush gamea