- Victim was found crying and holding underwear in central Paris early Saturday
- Comes as teenage girls were injected with unknown substance at another venue
A British woman was allegedly gang-raped and subsequently robbed on the streets of Paris after attending a festival in the French capital on Friday night, it has emerged.
The tourist was found crying as she stumbled through the streets of Paris’ 1st arrondissement in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to a police source.
She was clutching her underwear in a state of significant distress hours after leaving a concert at the Olympia hall – one of hundreds of events held across France on June 21 to mark the ‘Fête de la Musique’ – or ‘Make Music Day’ in English.
The victim, who was picked up by firefighters and taken to the Cochin hospital to undergo medical examinations, later told police she was accosted by several men and pulled to a secluded area where they raped her and stole her phone, according to Le Figaro.
Investigators from Paris’ 1st judicial police district are now probing the incident, but have not yet established any suspects.
The shocking rape comes as five teenage girls were injected with an unknown substance as they attended another Make Music Day event in the Saint-Maur-des-Fossés suburb of Paris.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the annual ‘Fete de la musique’ one-day music festival in the courtyard of the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on June 21, 2024. June 21, marks the annual start of ‘Fete de la Musique’, a tradition marking the first day of summer, during which music is encouraged to be played outdoors
Attendees gather next to the stage during the annual ‘Fete de la musique’ one-day music festival in the courtyard of the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, France, on June 21, 2024
The girls, aged 13-17, told aid workers at the event they were dancing in the crowd when they felt stings in their arms.
Each of them quickly began exhibiting symptoms that included dizziness and nausea, headaches and fever, witnesses at the scene told Le Parisien.
Three of the girls reportedly sported marks on their left arm that suggested they had been pierced by a needle.
But police were unable to make any arrests, with some 10,000 attending the event in the Parisian suburb.
Two men were stopped for an on-site search by officers but were later released after the police were unable to find any paraphernalia or other evidence linking them to the spiking.
Mayor of Saint-Maur Sylvain Berrios, who also attended the festival, admitted to Le Parisien that such incidents constitute ‘an extremely painful phenomenon’ that is ‘difficult to stop’.
Berrios said security had been greatly reinforced on site and authorities had installed a series of CCTV cameras to create a live security feed to the municipal police’s surveillance centre, which he hoped would aid investigators in finding suspects.
Celebrated on June 21 every year since 1982, France’s ‘Make Music Day’ sees musicians and performers from around the world perform at hundreds of concerts and events across the country.
As well as concerts featuring world renowned artists, amateur musicians are encouraged to take to the streets and public squares to hold impromptu concerts.