The courthouse of Bobigny, a northeastern Paris suburb, on January 15, 2024. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Two French police officers have been detained and suspended over allegedly raping a young woman while she was in custody at a court, a prosecutor and police chief said on Thursday, October 30.
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. 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 being held in custody on Thursday, Mathais said.
Paris police prefect Patrice Faure said in a post on X that he had "immediately suspended" the two officers. The officers filled out an administrative report laying down their version of events, a second source close to the case said, also speaking on the condition of anonymity. France's internal police investigation service, the IGPN, is looking into the case.
