British Policewoman, 23, Is Raped at Knifepoint Near the Base of the Eiffel Tower
James Reynolds, Daily Mail, October 17, 2023
A British police officer has said she was raped at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower on Monday.
The victim, 23, has told French police she was attacked by a man wielding a knife in the Champ de Mars park shortly before midnight that evening.
She said the suspect pulled out a knife as she tried to deflect his advances.
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.
The attacker pounced after the victim went behind a bush to go to the toilet.
She was separated from her friend for only a few moments when the attacker threatened her with a knife.
Police officers arrested a man and a suspect was taken into custody overnight.
In July, a tourist from Mexico reported that she had been raped at a park near the famous monument.
A 27-year-old woman told authorities the attack occurred in the early hours of July 27 at the Champ de Mars park in Paris.
Two of the five men were arrested for their alleged involvement in the rape but were released shortly after.
The Champ de Mars is a large garden that extends from the Eiffel Tower and is hugely popular with tourists and locals.
It will be a key site during 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 reported rape has revived pressure on Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to close the park at night for safety reasons.
Police have been pictured patrolling the area around the Eiffel Tower in recent days after the decision to put the nation on its highest state of alert after a deadly knife attack in northern France on Friday, October 13.
Mohammed, a 20-year-old Chechen refugee, stabbed a French schoolteacher to death and injured two other people in a knife attack at a school in Arras.
France deployed an additional 7,000 troops to patrol key areas after the attack.
Earlier today, 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.
