Harrowing security footage has captured the moment an alleged gang-rapist patted his Australian tourist victim on the shoulder in a Paris kebab shop after she fled from five attackers and begged diners for help.
The woman, 25, sought refuge in the Lebanese food restaurant after being violently assaulted at around 5am by a pack of five men in the northern Pigalle district, just days before the Olympics begin.
After seeking safety in the Dounia kebab shop located on the Boulevard de Clinchy, the woman was then confronted by one of her assailants, blurred in footage, before he is set-upon by another diner.
CCTV footage shows the terrified victim, also blurred, cowering in the corner of the eatery and begging the owners for help as staff and customers attempt to comfort the clearly distressed woman.
But in a shocking turn of events, the alleged rapist enters the shop and approaches the woman, before patting her and casually ordering some food.
The woman tells a nearby diner that he was a member of the group who attacked her just moment before, and he is then seen confronting the alleged rapist, taking a swing as staff jump in to break them up, causing the man to then leave the restaurant.
A woman, 25, sought refuge in a Paris kebab shop after being brutally raped by five men at around 5am. But just moments later, one of the woman’s (blurred on the far left of image) alleged rapists (circled) approached her before ‘patting her’
Several staff and patrons, including men and a woman in a short beige dress, were seen continuing to console the woman until police arrived at the scene before interviewing her about the devastating ordeal, and taking her to Bichat hospital.
French authorities have now launched a major investigation into the brazen attack which has sent shockwaves through the nation.
The footage is likely to form critical evidence as French authorities investigate the alarming incidents, which has cast a pall over the city’s Olympic Games opening ceremony later this week.
The women had spent Friday night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret before the group of five men approached her in an unspecified location.
She told police she was set upon by the pack of five men ‘of African appearance’ and brutally raped before escaping and seeking safety in the nearby kebab shop.
The woman, who was described as having ‘her dress inside out’, also claimed her mobile phone had been stolen.
She was said to be ‘disoriented and unable to speak a word of French’ as she told police what had happened. She was reportedly unable to give details on the exact place or circumstances surrounding the attack.
‘Her recollection of the evening is extremely hazy, but she says up to five men raped her,’ said an investigating source.
‘She was seen wandering around Pigalle, while in a state of some confusion and distress.
‘Staff working in a kebab shop saw that her dress was on backwards when she went inside to seek help,’ said the source.
Paris prosecutors would not comment on the video on Tuesday, but they confirmed a judicial enquiry had been opened into the ‘gang rape’ allegation.
They said no arrests had yet been made, and did not issue any descriptions of any suspected attackers.
A spokesman for the Alliance 75 police union said the woman had been due to return home to Australia on Monday, but instead remained in France to help with the investigation.
A diner confronted the alleged rapist (blurred), taking a swing as staff jump in to break them up
The spokesman said: ‘It is now essential work out exactly what happened on the evening, based on CCTV footage, and other technical evidence.’
The woman reportedly had booked a flight home for the day after the attack but is now understood to be staying on in Paris to assist police with the investigation.
The Boulevard de Clinchy, famed for its arts and theatre outlets, is in the centre of Paris’s famed red-light district, with a lap dancing club and a sex shop located next to the kebab shop where the woman took refuge.
It is also less than three miles from the Stade de France, which will be provide the centre point to the Olympics, which opens on Friday.
Parisian police want to avoid fear being spread among tourists as hundreds of thousands flock to the French capital for the Olympic Games, with Paris Prosecutor’s Office confirming a thorough investigation was underway.
‘The investigation into the charge of gang rape likely to have been committed on the night of July 19 to 20 has been entrusted to the second judicial police district,’ Paris Prosecutor’s office said.
Alliance Paris Police Union said investigators will ‘do everything to quickly identify the individuals and bring them to justice’.
‘It is now essential work out exactly what happened on the evening, based on CCTV footage, and other technical evidence,’ the spokesman said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Australian Embassy in Paris is ‘making urgent enquiries with French authorities following reports of an Australian citizen assaulted in Paris’.
‘The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stands ready to provide consular assistance,’ it said.
The shocking attack is the latest in a string of rapes to take place in the French capital.
In June, a young British woman was raped during an annual street music festival in central Paris.
The tourist was found crying as she stumbled through the streets of Paris’ 1st arrondissement in the early hours after she was attacked and subsequently robbed, 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’ – known as ‘Make Music Day’ in English.
She 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.
The woman told police she was set upon by a pack of five men ‘of African appearance’ and brutally raped at about 5am before escaping and seek safety in the nearby Dounia kebab shop
Police have now said they fear that the attack may have been recorded during the assault, which follows similar attacks at the event.
Earlier in June, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in abandoned hangar.
The girl from Courbevoie, in the Hauts-de-Seine suburb northwest of the French capital, told police that she had been raped at the weekend by three youths – one of whom she said was her ex-boyfriend.
Investigators heard how the gang grabbed her while she was sitting in Courbevoie’s Henri Regnault square with her boyfriend and dragged her to a derelict warehouse in the nearby La Defense district to carry out the attack.
A police source said the youths forced her into sex acts ‘while uttering death threats and anti-Semitic remarks’ amid the heinous attack – as the ex-boyfriend reportedly accused the victim of ‘hiding her Jewish religion’ from him.
In January, an American woman told police she was ‘raped and left at the side of the road‘ while visiting Paris to attend Fashion Week.
French daily Le Parisien said that the tourist was raped by two men after taking drugs that one of them had given her.
The latest rape comes despite an increased police presences on the streets of Paris ahead of the Olympic Games.
Armed guards have been spotted patrolling the city’s boulevards and venues, while metal barriers now line the Seine.
A huge force of some 45,000 police officers drafted in from 43 countries and 18,000 soldiers will make up the defence system.
But alongside human efforts, several aerial units will also be involved in the ‘unprecedented’ operation, including Rafale fighter jets, AWACS surveillance flights, Reaper surveillance drones and helicopters with expert snipers on board.
Armed guards have been spotted patrolling metal barricades erected near the River Seine in Paris ahead of the start of the Olympics
Some 1,700 members of the British police force are already supporting French officers in Paris and Marseille
Police officers control access to roads near the Seine river, ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics
There is a huge security presence in Paris ahead of the Olympics, which begins on Friday
Armed guards near the Plaza de la Bastilla, Paris. The Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games takes place on Friday July 26, along the River Seine
Some 1,700 members of the British police force are already supporting French officers in Paris and Marseille as well as UK sniffer dogs that have been handpicked by French authorities.
Images from Paris today show the city behind rows of metal barriers as locals and tourists dine at restaurants behind perimeter fencing near the River Seine – where the opening ceremony is set to take place on Friday.
The four-mile metal barricade was put in place by the Paris Police Prefecture and will remain throughout the Games to prevent and deter any trouble.
Dubbed the SILT, or the ‘belt of steel’ the anti-terrorism fencing is ultimately the first line of defence and were initially erected on July 18.
Anyone who wants to enter the protected area will need to scan a QR code to me it into the gated part of the city.
All cars are also banned from entering certain zones around some of the event venues with solely emergency vehicles allowed through.