A prosecutor's office in Metz has referred a case to the IGPN (Independent Commission for the Evaluation of the Police and Gendarmerie), following the circulation on social media of a video recording from an arrest. The footage shows a plainclothes police officer standing next to a young girl who had been restrained on the ground near a building. In the video, the officer appears to touch the girl's hair and chest. Prosecutor David Touvet confirmed that he "opened an investigation this morning and submitted the case to the IGPN, with the support of the anti-cybercrime office [...] for the technical part of the investigation aimed at authenticating and analyzing the video," according to the prosecutor's office. The investigation is looking into the circumstances of the girl's arrest and whether any sexual assault occurred against a minor under 15 years of age. In the video that went viral, the hand of a man is seen coming into contact with the hair and chest of a young girl who had been restrained on the ground. According to the Metz prosecutor, the girl "denied any act of violence and any sexual assault against her person." This investigation comes at a time of heightened student protests across France. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the "police of the police" — an internal oversight body — has initiated ten other administrative and judicial procedures since the start of the high school protests. Official figures finalized at the beginning of the week show that 6,059 arrests have taken place since September 28. Additionally, 715 police officers and gendarmes were injured during the protests.