A 17-year-old migrant of alleged Libyan nationality has been arrested in Paris over the suspected rape of a woman near the Eiffel Tower.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, an inebriated 32-year-old woman from Ukraine was dragged into the bushes on the Champ-de-Mars park in central Paris where she was sexually groped all over her body and physically penetrated.
Upon hearing her cries, others in the area quickly notified a nearby patrol of the Paris night crime brigade, who immediately arrested an apparently drunken male.
According to a report from the Le Parisien, the alleged rapist identified himself to police as being a Libyan national.
However, because he was not in possession of a passport or other papers, this has yet to be officially confirmed by authorities, with prosecutors saying that his “identity is being verified”.
The prosecutors added that because the alleged victim was intoxicated at the time of the incident and because she does not speak French, a further police interview will be required.
The location on the Champs-de-Mars in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and thus a prime location for so-called “sans-papiers” (without papers) illegal migrant street vendors.
It has of late also become a hotspot for sexual assaults and rapes, with the local arrondissement mayor Rachida Dati claiming in March that there were sexual assaults “every day” on the Champ-de-Mars and that police and security were ill-equipped to manage the threat.
While officials denied her assessment, there have been several notable rapes in recent years in the area, including the gang rape of a Mexican tourist, for which an Algerian national was indicted.
Last year, another Algerian and three Egyptians were arrested over the alleged group sexual assault of two tourist women from Lativa on the Champ-de-Mars.
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