The 32-year-old woman from Ukraine was allegedly dragged into a set of bushes near the Eiffel Tower and subjected to the horrific attack – a 17-year-old boy has been arrested
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested after a 32-year-old woman was allegedly dragged into bushes and raped in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The incident is said to have unfolded on near the Champ-de-Mars park in central Paris, an area popular with tourists, at around 2.40am this morning. Reports said the boy inappropriately touched the victim, a Ukrainian woman, before forcing her into a bush and subjecting her to the attack.
The 17-year-old was arrested at the scene after officers on patrol overheard the woman’s screams for help. He was placed in custody, and a blood alcohol test at the police station showed him to be intoxicated.
Police have not been able to locate the boy’s identity papers, and the prosecutor’s office told French publication Le Figaro: “His identity is currently being verified.”
In March this year, police launched an investigation after a tourist said she had been “repeatedly raped” by a taxi driver in the Bois de Boulogne suburb, located to the west of the French capital.
An investigating source said the alleged victim spent “an enjoyable night out in Paris” before leaving a group of friends and getting into the taxi.
Instead of being driven to her hotel, she was allegedly taken to the Rue de la Muette, a road in the centre of the Bois, and raped by the driver.
The source said she “escaped from the car” and took cover in the garden of a house in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an upmarket area of the city. The occupant of the house then called police.
In July 2024, a a 25-year-old Australian woman told police she had been gang raped by a group of five men in central Paris just days before the summer Olympics was due to begin.
The woman managed to flee into the Dounia kebab shop on Boulevard de Clichy, near to the iconic Moulin Rouge cabaret theatre, where staff called police.
She was then taken to hospital “disoriented and unable to speak a word of French,” according to witnesses.
CCTV footage allegedly showed her fleeing into a kebab shop with her dress ripped, and holding her underwear in her hand. In a statement at the time, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced it was opening an investigation into the incident.