A French woman has accused filmmaker Roman Polanski of allegedly raping her when she was a teenager.
The woman, an actor named Valentine Monnier, told the French newspaper Le Parisien that she had just turned 18 in 1975, the time of the alleged attack.
She claims she was beaten and raped at Polanski’s chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland.
“I didn’t have any link with him – not personal, not professional, and I barely knew him,” she told the newspaper.
“This wasn’t during a party (no alcohol, no drugs). It was extremely violent, after skiing, in his cabin in Gstaad. He hit me, he beat me until I surrendered, then he raped me, inflicting upon me all the vicissitudes. I had just turned 18 and my first relationship had been just a few months ago. I thought I was dying."
Polanski’s lawyer, Hervé Temime, is quoted by Le Parisien as saying his client ”firmly contests” the allegation.
The attorney “deplored” that the claim is being made public shortly before Polanski’s latest film, J’Accuse, is being released in France.
Le Parisien quotes the woman as saying the film triggered her decision to go public.
The director has been a fugitive from the US for four decades since pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977.
The Independent has contacted Temime’s practice and a representative for Polanski for comment.
Additional reporting by agencies
