A British policewoman on holiday in Paris has reportedly told police she was raped at knifepoint near the Eiffel Tower.
The 23-year-old, who has not been named, said she was sexually assaulted on Monday in the Champs-de-Mars, the park surrounding Paris’ best-known monument.
The policewoman said the attack took place at around 11pm not far from the Wall of Peace, a monument in the Champs-de-Mars inspired by the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem and on which the word “peace” is written in many languages.
The victim was staying overnight with a friend in the French capital, the Le Parisien newspaper reported.
The attacker pounced after she went behind a bush to go to the toilet.
The policewoman said she had been separated from her friend for only a few moments when a man threatened her with a knife. She said she then suffered “digital penetration” and sexual assault.
After the man fled, she called the police. An anti-crime squad rushed to the scene and the victim was taken care of by firefighters.
Police arrested a 35-year-old man around an hour after the woman reported the attack and gave a description of the suspect. He was taken into custody overnight.
Popular with tourists and locals
The incident came fewer than three months after a tourist from Mexico reported that she had been raped at the same park.
A 27-year-old woman told authorities the attack occurred in the early hours of July 27.
Two men were arrested over suspected involvement in the rape but were released shortly afterwards.
The Champ de Mars is a large garden that extends from the Eiffel Tower and is hugely popular with tourists and locals.
It will loom large in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris when beach volleyball is to be held at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and judo and wrestling at the temporary Arena Champ de Mars at the other end of the park.
Unlike most Paris parks which close during the night, the Champ de Mars can be accessed round-the-clock.
The latest reported rape has revived pressure on Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to close the park at night for safety reasons.
There have been a string of cases of sexual assault in Paris in recent weeks.
In early August, a 47-year-old woman was raped at knifepoint in the rue de Charonne in the capital’s eastern 11th arrondissement after a man entered her ground-floor flat while she was sleeping with the window open.
A few days later, an Austrian woman said she was raped in the street after coming out of a bar in the 10th arrondissement.
High state of alert
A 55-year-old woman was also raped in late August in the lift of her building in Batignolles, in the 17th arrondissement. And a 27-year-old woman said she was raped on 30 September while walking home in rue Oberkampf, in the 11th arrondissement.
According to Paris police, some 67 rapes have been committed in public areas in the city between January 1 and August 31 – two fewer than during the same period last year.
France is currently on its highest state of alert after a deadly knife attack on a teacher in Arras, northern France last Friday
France deployed an additional 7,000 troops to patrol key areas after the attack.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Palace of Versailles was evacuated due to a bomb threat.
It is the second time in days that the former French royal residence has been evacuated.
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