A suspect has been arrested after footage of an alleged attempted rape of a woman on a train near Paris went viral.
JHORDANA DIAS, a 26-year-old Brazilian National, was allegedly attacked earlier this month. She told the newspaper Lege Le Parisien that the man got on the train, pushed her and tried to destroy her underwear.
Backed by his screams, another passenger pulled out his film phone. Footage was captured of a man fleeing as the train stalled at a station.
The incident has revived discussions of women’s safety in France.
According to French media, a person was arrested on Friday night by the transport police in Mantes-la-Jolie, North-West of Paris. Investigators tracked him there, but it’s unclear how.
He did not bring identity documentation to his arrest, but told police he was a 26-year-old Egyptian national, media reports said. He remains in custody.
The alleged incident took place on 15 October between choisy-le-roi and Villeneuve-le-roi train stations, south-east of Paris.
The video shows a man wearing a black tracksuit and cap riding a carriage.
At the sound of a woman’s scream, the woman filming can be heard saying “You stay there” as the man appears to start approaching her.
The train then pulls into a station, and the man gets on and flees the platform.
The woman who published the incident, named by French media only as Marguerite, has since been widely credited as having saved Ms Dias from a more serious attack.
Ms Dias, who does not speak French, reportedly filed a complaint with police in choisy-le-roi with the help of her brother, who translated her testimony.
The footage has been widely circulated in news outlets and social media. Prompting more women to share their own experiences of intimidation on public transport in France.
Two other women told Le Parisian that they had been victimized by the same man.