A 12-year-old Jewish girl was gang-raped by child attackers who taunted her with anti-Semitic slurs in a case that has shocked France.

The attack has placed anti-Semitism at the centre of the upcoming parliamentary elections, with parties across the political spectrum condemning the attack, and pointing fingers at one another.

Two 13-year-old boys have been indicted on charges of gang rape, death threats, insults and personal violence, while a 12-year-old has been placed under the status of assisted witness for rape.

The assault happened on Saturday in the suburb of Courbevoie, north-west of Paris, as the victim was walking home after parting company with a male friend.

It is alleged that two teenagers approached her and dragged her forcibly into a warehouse. A third suspect, 12, joined them, hurling anti-Semitic insults, and calling her “dirty Jew” as the other boys beat, threatened, and raped her, and forced her to give them oral sex.

The attackers are said to have put a lighter to her cheek, threatened to kill her if she went to the police, and instructed her to return to the same place the next day with 200 euros.

“Otherwise something bad would happen to her and her family because they know where she lives,” they said, according to police reports seen by Le Parisien.

Far-Left leader condemned

The news drew swift condemnation from all political parties but has also become an electoral issue.

Emmanuel Macron’s party has attacked the New Popular Front (NFP) – the recently formed Leftist coalition – and in particular Jean-Luc Mélenchon for fuelling anti-Semitism in France.

Mr Mélenchon, the leader of the far-Left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) which is the largest party in the coalition, refuses to characterise Hamas as a terrorist organisation and is a divisive figure within the NFP for his stance.

In response to Mr Mélenchon’s tweet of support to the victim’s family in which he said he was “horrified” by the attack,  Eric Dupond-Moretti, the Justice Minister, said: “How dare you? You have no face. Leave this young girl and her family alone.

“Your recurring comments feed the hatred that leads to the worst...Shame on those who make pacts with you to save their own pockets.”

At a gathering in front of the City Hall in Paris on Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators shouted: “Mélenchon in prison.”

At another demonstration in Courbevoie, Yonathan Arfi, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif), said:  “We must fight against this climate of anti-Semitism fuelled by France Insoumise.

“We must do everything to fight both extremes, without compromise.”

According to government figures, anti-Semitic acts in France were up 300 per cent between January and March, compared to the same period last year.