British Police Officer Raped At Knifepoint Near Eiffel Tower

A 23-year-old British police officer on holiday in Paris was reportedly raped at knifepoint beneath the Eiffel Tower on Monday. The female officer, whose identity has not been revealed, said that she was in the Champs-de-Mars, the park surrounding the tower when the incident took place.

The victim told local police that she was attacked when she went to pee behind a bush. The man threatened her with a knife when she tried to push her attacker away. She called the police after the man fled the scene and reported that she suffered "digital penetration" and sexual assault.

A 35-year-old man was arrested around an hour after the woman was attacked. "We are supporting a British woman following an attack in Paris," a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) spokesperson said.

In 2016, a 19-year-old girl was gang-raped underneath the Eiffel Tower. She was supposed to be on a date with a boy she met on Facebook, per a report in The Telegraph.

They had arranged to meet at the Champs des Mars. However, she was met by three men when she reached the location. The girl was then dragged underneath a bush, where a blanket had been laid out.

She was gagged and tied up before being brutally beaten and subjected to a horrifying sexual assault by the men. A couple who were jogging in the park the next morning discovered the victim naked, crying, and in a state of shock. All three men were arrested by the police later.

The Champ de Mars is a huge garden that remains open round-the-clock. It is a popular tourist destination in Paris. The latest case comes months after a woman from Mexico reported that she had been raped at the same park.

The police arrested two men in connection with the case, but they were released shortly afterwards. In April, a German tourist became the victim of a similar attack, and in February, two Brazilian women were raped at the same location.

"The rape of a woman at the foot of the Eiffel Tower once again highlights the dangerousness of the Champ de Mars site," the mayor of the Seventh Arrondissement (District) of Paris, Rachida Dati, had said then.

Earlier this year, Paris' prefect of police, Laurent Nuñez, claimed that the crime rate in the capital city has fallen in recent months but remains "structurally high".

He claimed that break-ins have been a "black spot" with an increase of 5.3 per cent in the area of Paris beyond the circular motorway and 8.8% in the centre. According to local media reports, the stretch between Champs de Mars and the nearby metro train station is a hotspot for pickpockets.