France Deports Bosnians Who Shaved Daughter's Head Over Relationship With Serb

France has expelled family members of a Bosnian Muslim teenager who forcibly shaved her head because she wanted to marry a Christian Serbian man, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

French officials said five members of the 17-year-old girl's family -- her parents and three siblings -- who lived in the eastern city of Besancon had been deported to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, early on October 24.

"This expulsion from the national territory is the consequence of unacceptable behavior on the part of the family in August, notably beatings and the shaving of an adolescent girl who was in love with a young Serbian man of another religion," the minister said in a statement.

The statement said that the teenager will be taken care of by French social services.

Border police in Sarajevo confirmed to RFE/RL that the family had arrived at Sarajevo International Airport "on a specially organized flight around 12:50 local time, accompanied by French police."

The parents were arrested on October 23, after a court in Besancon convicted them of violence against a minor.

They were also barred from entering France for five years. An aunt and an uncle of the victim were also sentenced to prison terms.

French media reported in August that a Bosnian Muslim girl in Besancon had been beaten by her family and her hair had been forcefully shaved off because she had a relationship with a 20-year-old Serbian Christian man.

The family had arrived from Bosnia-Herzegovina two years ago.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and dpa