A YOUTH worker allegedly raped with a policeman's truncheon – sparking four days of riots in Paris – has said he "thought he was going to die" in a graphic account of his ordeal.

The 22-year-old, named as Theo, needed surgery after he was violently arrested by four officers in a suburban housing estate last Thursday.

Another 17 people were arrested last night as violence erupted for a fourth night in a row in the Aulnay-sous-Bois district in response to the alleged police brutality.

Theo told in a TV interview how he was stopped by four officers in an identity check, and they then hit him and peppered him with racist insults.

At some point, one of the officers took his telescopic baton and "he drove it into my buttocks" he said.

He said he fell face down as he was sodomised, adding: "I had no strength left. It was as if my body had left myself.

"I thought I was going to die."

Afterwards he said the officers told him to sit down but he could not because of his injuries, so they teargassed him and hit him in the head to make him comply.

He said he was then handcuffed and taken to a police car, where he was again insulted, spat at and beaten "in the private parts".

At the police station another officer saw his condition and he was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for a "deep anal tear".

The four officers involved have been suspended with one charged with rape and the other three with using excessive violence.

Police argue the victim's injuries are consistent with an accident, in which his tracksuit bottoms fell down and the baton penetrated him.

A lawyer for the officer charged with rape said "the blow had been carried out in a totally involuntary manner, without his being aware of any injury."

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French president Francois Hollande visited Theo in hospital as the row over his arrest reached national significance amid claims racist police are routinely mistreating poor immigrant communities.

Theo's sister also gave an interview saying: "He works with young people. He is always smiling, always laughing, always making jokes.

"You can ask everyone where we live, he is known for his good mood and his kindness."

She added: "Doctors can’t say today what longstanding consequences he faces. We should wait two months, at least two months.

"Today he has a bag – we are hearing a lot of things, especially regarding incontinence, so… We can’t say that he is doing well and he is in a rather critical condition."

Eric Dupond-Moretti, a lawyer representing him, said the case is "exceptionally serious" and he called on judicial authorities to treat the officer as any other suspected rapist would be.

Hundreds marched in Aulnay-sous-Bois demanded "Justice for Theo", and cops have faced "appalling" nightly riots since the rape claim emerged at the weekend.

Rioters have torched cars and bins and hurled missiles at police.

Some 26 people were arrested on Monday night in the poor suburb North East of Paris.

The area has a large minority population and was one of the areas worst hit by riots in 2005.

Residents claim police are routinely racist and abusive and say tensions run high over unemployment, lack of security and high rents.

Many of those rioting labelled the alleged assault on Theo as racist in nature.

As trouble erupted, one cop said: "The violence has been appalling.

"Cars and dustbins were set on fire, and there were attacks on police patrols."

A member of Theo's family said: "He was there at the wrong time."

The local prosecutor's office said police had stopped a group of around a dozen people "after hearing calls characteristic of lookouts at drug dealing sites".

During the operation they "attempted to arrest a 22-year-old man" and when he resisted they used tear gas and "one of them used an expandable baton".

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