A young Australian tourist’s visit to Paris turned into a nightmare after she was gang raped by five men yesterday. Police have described her assailants as being “African type individuals.”
Around 5 am on Sunday, July 21, police were called to a kebab shop in the historic 18th Arrondissement, with staff reporting that a severely traumatized woman had sought refuge in the small restaurant. The woman, who Le Journal du Dimanche reports to be 25 years old, told the staff she had been attacked by five men.
When attended to, the woman’s dress was reportedly turned “inside out” and she appeared to be under the influence of a substance, though it is unclear at this time if it was alcohol or perhaps a drug used to facilitate her assault. A source told French press that firefighters were the first emergency responders on the scene, and took the woman to the Bichat-Claude Hospital.
According to local reports, the tourist was interviewed by police while in hospital. As she had a ticket to fly home back to Australia today, the local prosecutor initiated a special process for foreign visitors to expedite a complaint to be filed on her behalf.
At the time of writing, the police have opened an investigation into the gang rape. As the complete circumstances of the attack have not yet been revealed, no suspects have been identified. However, because the area where the rape is suspected to have occurred is littered with video surveillance cameras, the police are expecting to trawl through the footage as part of their investigation.
French users on social media were not shocked to hear of the news, with many noting that Paris has experienced a spike in rapes coinciding with mass migration from Africa and the Middle East.
“This is the norm in France when we get rid of common sense,” one user noted. “Again and always the same. ‘No integration’ no longer works,” added another.
The attack has drawn comparisons with another incident which occurred Paris just last month, when a British tourist was allegedly gang raped while attending the Fete de la Musique event at the Olympia Hall. The tourist was found crying and holding her underwear after the attack, telling police that a number of men had dragged her away from the event to a secluded area where the assault happened. Her phone was also stolen in the incident.
Last year, 93 rapes in public places were recorded by the Paris police, which include squares, streets, and parks. In 2023 there were approximately 94,900 sexual offense recorded by the police across France, a significant increase when compared with the previous year when around 84,500 sexual offenses were reported to the authorities.
Recent statistics have revealed that 77% of rapes which occurred in the nation’s capital were committed by men with a foreign background.
Concerns surrounding the migration issue and the impact it is having on France were front-and-center during the recent French legislative elections earlier this month, during which the populist right-wing National Rally party almost snatched victory.
The party enjoyed their most successful performance, coming first in the first round at the end of June, after promising to drastically cut immigration and crack down on crime.
The National Rally ended up coming third overall in the second round, but only after President Emmanual Macron’s Ensemble party worked together with the far-left NFP to not field candidates against each other in certain areas, uniting the anti-right vote.
Despite a French left victory, riots broke out on the streets of Paris, with left-wing activists clashing with police for no discernible reason.
