PARIS: Two French police officers have been arrested and suspended after allegedly r@ping a 26-year-old woman while she was in custody at a court building in Bobigny, a suburb north of Paris.
According to Prosecutor Eric Mathais, the shocking incident reportedly happened overnight between Tuesday, October 28, and Wednesday, October 29. The woman had been brought before the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office over a case involving parental neglect.
Mathais said the two suspects, aged 23 and 35, have not been police officers for long. Both were taken into custody on Thursday, October 30, as investigations began.
The Paris police prefect, Patrice Faure, announced via X (formerly Twitter) that he had immediately suspended the two officers following the allegations.
A source close to the investigation said the officers had filed an internal report giving their version of events, though the details were not made public. Meanwhile, France’s internal police watchdog, the IGPN, has opened a formal inquiry into the case.
This latest scandal adds to growing public concern about s@xual misconduct and abuse of power within French law enforcement.
In a similar incident, another French police officer is set to face trial next year for allegedly r@ping a woman twice inside a police station in Seine-et-Marne, also near Paris. The victim, an undocumented Angolan woman, had gone to the station to report domestic violence when the assault allegedly happened, according to Libération newspaper.
France has been facing a series of high-profile r@pe and assault cases that have reignited national debate about consent and s3xual violence.
Just this week, the French parliament passed a landmark bill that redefines r@pe as any non-consensual sexual act a move hailed by rights advocates as a step toward transforming France from a culture of r@pe to a culture of consent.
