France’s left-wing elite have been accused of cowardice for failing to speak out in favour of a teenager facing death threats for insulting Islam.

The 16-year-old girl, identified only by her first name, Mila, has been told by police it is too dangerous for her to return to her sixth-form college in southeast France, and she is struggling to find another willing to take her.

Richard Malka, her lawyer, said that her plight had been ignored by feminist and left-wing groups, which are usually quick to defend women subjected to verbal and physical violence. “It is the left that traditionally defends secularism in this country. It saddens me that it has not done so in this case,” he told The Times.

L’affaire Mila has