American tourist raped in public toilet in central Paris
A 23-year-old man has been charged and remanded in
custody after an American tourist was raped in a public toilet in the
centre of Paris, in a case that has caused shock partly because the busy
riverside area was considered safe.
The woman,
27, was out with her partner on Saturday night by the River Seine in
the heart of Paris’s tourist district, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral
and Paris’s city hall.
The riverside promenade is the focal point for Paris’s Right Bank summer event, Paris Plages,
and is busy both during the day and at night, with tourists and
Parisians out for a drink in the evening or picnicking by the river.
Shortly after 1am, the woman stopped to use a
public toilet near the Louis-Philippe bridge in the fourth
arrondissement. The toilet, not far from local bars, is considered safe
and well maintained. It was part of new facilities put in place six
years ago when the riverside area became car-free.
The
local paper Le Parisien reported that the woman’s partner waited for
her but grew concerned she was taking a long time. He approached the
toilet and heard crying, then found his partner being attacked.
Security
guards in the area came to help and police arrested the man, who lives
in Asnières-sur-Seine, outside Paris. In initial police interviews, he
denied rape and said the woman had consented.
The
woman was immediately taken to a Paris hospital. After giving evidence
to the police, she and her partner flew back to the US
