Two French police officers have been detained and suspended over allegedly raping a young woman while she was in custody at a court outside Paris. The men have admitted sexual relations but claim they were consensual.
The woman who accused the two officers said the alleged assault took place on Tuesday night in Bobigny, a town north of Paris, prosecutor Eric Mathais said on Thursday.
She had been brought before the Bobigny public prosecutor's office for "acts of parental neglect," he added.
The woman is 26, while the two accused officers – who "have not been police officers for long" – are 23 and 35, according to a source close to the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The policemen were taken into custody on Thursday, Mathais said.
Paris police prefect Patrice Faure said on X that he had "immediately suspended" the two officers.
In an administrative report laying down their version of events, the officers admitted having sex with the woman, but claim it was consensual.
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'Serious and unacceptable' actions
France's internal police investigation service, the IGPN, is investigating the case.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, has described the officers' actions as "extraordinarily serious and unacceptable" and promised the utmost firmness if they are proven.
In a separate incident, a police officer is due to stand trial next year for raping a woman inside a police station in the Seine-et-Marne region, also near Paris.
The plaintiff, an undocumented woman of Angolan nationality, reported being raped twice by the officer in 2023. She had gone to the station to file a complaint for domestic violence, French daily Libération reported.
In 2014, a former police officer was jailed for 10 years for raping a woman detained for being drunk and disorderly. He claimed there had been a “sexual misunderstanding”.
France has been rocked by a series of high-profile rape cases in recent months, notably the case of Gisèle Pélicot, that have sparked a debate about consent.
On Wednesday France voted to change its criminal code to define rape as sex without consent – a vote hailed by supporters as a move from "a culture of rape to a culture of consent".
(with AFP)
