Two French Cops, Accused of Raping Canadian Woman, Suspended Until Proven Innocent
Two French police officers are currently being investigated after reportedly raping a Canadian woman. The victim allegedly got raped at the police headquarters of Paris.
According to the interior minister of France, the officers whose names have not been disclosed were suspended until proven innocent. Also, another police officer, considered a witness of the alleged rape incident, has also been suspended. The Canadian woman who is a tourist in the country accused the officers of rape.
French media earlier reported the 34-year-old woman from Toronto came across the off-duty police officers for the first time in a pub, CTV News reported.
The Irish pub where they met on April 22 was near the police quarters. According to reports, the woman gave consent to follow the officers to their workplace. But reports added the woman apparently was in a distraught condition when she left the headquarters. Later she told an officer that she was raped. The accusations led the arrest of the four officers initially.
A couple of officers were released on bail on April 26 while the other two were released with no charges. Reports cited the Canadian woman underwent a medical test while her DNA samples were also taken.
According to Sebastien Schapira, the lawyer defending one of the accused, his client did nothing wrong. While he admitted his client did have a sexual encounter with the woman, he claimed the sex was "consensual."
Schapira said the woman should stay in France until the investigation is over. The woman has gone back to Canada after laying the allegations. He said they would like the woman to get back to France. The Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada refused to confirm if the woman still stayed in France. Privacy reasons were cited to defend secrecy.