Two Brazilian tourists were allegedly sexually assaulted, one of whom possibly raped, as they visited the Eiffel Tower on Sunday.
“The rape of a woman at the foot of the Eiffel Tower once again highlights the dangers of the Champ de Mars site,” said Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th arrondissement (district) of Paris, where the Eiffel Tower is located.
The victims, who are sisters, met two young men hours before the attack and visited the famous site, strolling along the Champ de Mars lawn between the Eiffel Tower and the Paris military training ground. One of the men forcibly grabbed the older sister’s buttocks, but she managed to escape from him.
He found his sister pinned to the ground by the second man, forcing the second suspect to flee, French broadcaster BFM TV reported. The sisters were taken to a local police station and the men are still at large.
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The women have filed a police complaint indicating that the man raped their younger sister, according to the French newspaper Valeurs actuelles.
People relax in the Champ de Mars garden near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, July 16, 2021. (AP Photo / Michel Euler)
The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, but the district mayor insists more must happen.
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Dati urged city officials to provide enhanced security around France’s most popular tourist sites, some of which fall within his district, including new fences, increased police patrols and CCTV security in the area.
Rachida Dati attends a rally at the Zenith Paris concert hall in Paris on February 13, 2022. (Andrea Savorani Neri / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Les Republicains, founded by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the party that Dati represents, has criticized the “endemic security” and “rise of crime” in Paris.
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A police officer on the ground wrote in Le Figaro last September that he felt “nothing is being done to stem” the rise in crime and that “the insufficient response does not discourage criminals from taking action”.
A Russian tourist walks past police officers at the bridge leading to the Eiffel Tower, Sept. 23, 2020, in Paris. (AP Photo / Michel Euler)
The US State Department has issued a Level 2 Advisory to ‘exercise extra caution’ traveling to France, prompted by demonstrations in the country and possible health risks posed to Chinese travelers following the spike in COVID infection -19 in the country after the end of “zero-COVID ” in December.
Paris authorities continue to plan to clean up tourist sites ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, which will take place in the French capital, the Evening Standard reported.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said police would try to “saturate” the area around the Eiffel Tower to “fight crime and disperse troublemakers”.
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The stretch between the Champs de Mars and the nearby Metro station is a hotspot for pickpockets. Paris police in December arrested 19 people believed to be the ringleaders after a three-year operation with Paris police along with Spanish and Italian authorities.
“We will continue and scale up these actions ahead of the Olympics,” Nunez said.
