British tourist claims rape by Paris taxi driver: Police search suspect
An investigation into the alleged assault has now been opened
The woman said she called a taxi to take her home, but the driver parked and raped her
Ilia Baksheev/Shutterstock
French police are investigating after a British tourist claimed she was raped by a Paris taxi driver in the Bois de Boulogne area of the city.
The alleged incident happened on Saturday, March 15, states a police source reported by Le Figaro.
Police were called at around 07:30 after a resident of Neuilly found the British woman in their garden. The woman was said to be crying and in a state of shock.
The victim said that she had ordered a taxi to go back to her accommodation after having spent the night with friends in Paris. She said that the driver instead parked the car in the Bois de Boulogne, and raped her several times.
She managed to escape before taking cover in the garden where she was found. Emergency services arrived and took her to the medical unit l’unité médico-judiciaire (UMJ) at Garches (Hauts-de-Seine).
Police from the 1st judicial district (district de police judiciaire, 1er DPJ) have opened an inquiry into the charge of rape, the Paris prosecutor has said.
Rape allegations
The case comes less than a year after another British tourist claimed she had been raped by a group of men in Paris. Emergency services found the woman on the streets outside Châtelet-les-Halles in the city’s first arrondissement at around 07:00 on June 22, 2024, after Fête de la musique celebrations on June 21.
Read also: Paris police investigate claim British tourist sexually assaulted
Similarly, on July 20 last year, an Australian woman walked into a restaurant on the Boulevard de Clichy (in the city’s 18th arrondissement) at around 05:00 on and told workers she had been raped by a number of men nearby.
Another case involving the Bois de Boulogne hit headlines in September, when a man who had previously been convicted of rape was arrested in Geneva, Switzerland, in connection with the killing of a 19-year-old student. Her body was found buried in the 845-hectare wood a day after she was reported missing.
Read more: Body of missing student found buried in Paris wood
