According to a report by The Local out of Sweden, a 20-year-old man was charged for raping a girl in the middle of a pop concert at the Bråvalla Music Festival in eastern Sweden. The man is accused of having raped a 17-year-old girl right in the middle of the concert crowd on June 28th, while Swedish pop star Veronica Maggio was on stage at Bråvalla. The girl claimed he grabbed her throat to hold her in place. 

Dense crowds made it difficult for the girl to escape, the prosecutor has concluded, meeting the definition of a particularly vulnerable situation in accordance with Swedish law.

The case is based on testimony from the girl, several witnesses, and security guards at the festival.

Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen has posted the following message online regarding the incident:

"Five rapes and 12 sexual assaults on the Swedish festival Bråvalla. Munford And Sons stood up as artists and said they will NOT play at this festival anymore until they can promise more safety for the women. I highly respect this and totally agree! How is it possible this happens so much on this festival? How is it possible women get raped at all in this time, in this 2016? It's a daily and almost normal thing to do in many parts of this world! Revolting! There is not a single valid excuse for this to happen, anywhere! Awareness is all I can do from where I stand and I hereby call out to all man and woman! Rape is NOT ok and more needs to be done to protect victims, male and female, from sexual assault!"

Jansen followed up her post the next day:

"I was shocked to read the comments on my previous post about the rapes and sexual assaults at the Swedish festival Bråvalla. Shocked because there is such a strong signal coming from these messages! Google 'rape in Europe' and there is a clear signal. People are scared and feel let down by their government who tries to do politics instead of acting accordingly to numbers. People are scared because of racist acts and the view some have that all people from certain countries are the same. From where I stand I urge the politics to stop being so terribly soft and start acting. That is not an act of racism, quite the opposite! And I urge people to realize every basket comes with rotten apples! Not all people all the same, wherever they are from. Act! Think! And learn from our mistakes in the past for ones!!! There has been enough suffering!

PS: This is a very European message. I realize rape is not a problem that's happening here and I wish I could reach out to all woman and children in this world who suffer from this madness! India...South America...Africa...we know...but what do we DO? I found a picture from two girls hanging on their necks on a tree in India. They were raped and killed for it. What? Culture clash my ass, that is NO justice!"

Evergrey frontman Tom Englund also commented on the incident via Facebook:

"Reading about yet another rape at the Bråvalla Festival in Sweden makes me feel ashamed of being a man.

I feel sick, guilty and saddened to think that the possibility exists that even ONE single woman could perceive me as a threat. What is so incredibly and uniquely fucked up in a man’s head that makes him think that he could ever have the right to even get close or talk to a woman without her consent?!

Men’s’ degrading view of women disgusts me. It disgusts me that a perception by some still exists today that men are superior. We are fucking not! On the contrary, we are very fucking far from it! Spreading insecurity and fear by our mere presence is so far from anything I want to be connected with. So much so that I feel that the world has lost its colour, its vibrancy and my hands are trembling as I type this. The thought of what women have to go through just by co-existing in everyday life in this world together with us men shames me.

It´s the attitude, the apathy and the SILENCE that has to fucking stop! And it will only have a chance to stop if us - men - fathers, husbands, brothers, boyfriends and grandpas - finally stand up for our moms, daughters, sisters, grandmas, wives, friends, girlfriends and, of course, any other women in distress.

And to men that think women - your moms, daughters, sisters, grandmas, wives, friends and girlfriends - are of a lesser kind, or that some get what they deserve because of how they dress, act or look, go kill yourselves you swine, you predators, you scum.

Those same words go out to all of us who say or do nothing and just let our women face this on their own."