Some 850 people gathered on Saturday 8 February in Dax (Landes) to pay tribute to Victor, 17-year-old " valued boy ", killed last week, against a background of settling scores with another teenager, a correspondent for the AFP.
Read also: Murder of a teenager in the Landes: two minors charged
" I will never thank you enough for coming so many, " said the teenager's father, moved, to the comrades and relatives of his son massed in the city hall park, a week after the tragedy.
In the square, the portrait of the young man was enthroned on a stage framed by clusters of white balloons. The ceremony was organized by mothers close to the victim.
" It was important for his friends, they needed to get together to pay tribute to Victor, " said Catherine Zaidi, one of those mothers who had known Victor for years. " Together, we share our pain, but also our hope for a better world, without hatred, without violence ", launched at the microphone the main education advisor of Borda high school in Dax, where the teenager was schooled.
For several minutes, his friends from the Dax athletics club, his high school classmates and his relatives evoked the memory of their friend, described as a sporty, cheerful and cheerful boy.
Among the crowd, Océane, Melyna and Laure, friends of the school, wanted to " be present to support his family, to show him that Victor was a boy appreciated by all of us ," they told AFP.
White balloons
" Psychologists came to high school to talk to us, but that is not enough, it is important for me to be here today ", " to help the family, " continued Mathieu, 16, a classmate of the young man, whom he knew " well " and with whom he still discussed " the day before his death ".
At the end of the ceremony, hundreds of white balloons, which hung pictures of Victor, were dropped into the sky.
Released last Saturday evening, Victor had not returned to his home. His body was found on Sunday buried in a field in Yzosse (Landes). The same day, two teenagers aged sixteen, a boy and his girlfriend, were arrested by the gendarmes. The boy was indicted on Tuesday for " murder " and imprisoned. Charged for " complicity ", the teenager was released under judicial supervision. The boy admitted to having " squeezed the neck " of the victim and " hit his head on the ground " during an argument that escalated.