Paris: In a shocking incident, a 25-year-old Australian woman was gangraped by five men in the French capital Paris, as harrowing CCTV footage showed her taking refuge in a kebab shop in the Pigalle district with her dress partially torn off. No arrests have been made so far, but prosecutors are treating the investigation as "gangrape".
The incident took place days before the opening of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Citing French media, BBC reported that restaurant owners called for help when they saw the woman's state. She was looked after by firefighters following the alleged assault and was later taken to a hospital to be examined by medical professionals.
The woman was reportedly found in a dishevelled state, claiming she was raped by five people. She was seen running into the kebab shop and asking staff for help, and alarmed customers and staff crowded around her to provide her comfort when a man entered the shop. The victim pointed that the man was her attacker, but he brazenly approached her and patted her on the back.
A customer later confronted the man and the latter fled the scene. The Paris Prosecutor's Office said police were investigating the allegations and that CCTV footage was being looked at. “The investigation into the charge of gang rape likely to have been committed on the night of 19 to 20 July has been entrusted to the second judicial police district,” it said.
According to the New York Post, the woman told officers that the attackers were "of African appearance". Other reports said the woman was carrying her underwear in her hand and that she had had her phone stolen. The victim was planning to travelling back to Australia but will now stay in Paris to help police with their investigation.
Other reports claimed that the men were immigrants, which has become a red-hot topic in France due to a series of attacks being caused by migrants. This has caused several people to push for tighter immigration laws and deportation of illegal immigrants not only in France, but in other European countries as well.
There are about 7 million immigrants living in France, or about 10.3 per cent of the population, with numbers rising steadily since 2000. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) has long argued that mass immigration is draining France's coffers and threatening its identity.
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