An Australian woman was reportedly gangraped by five men in Paris days before the Olympics, police said. French Police are investigating the crime, which they said happened after midnight on July 20.
CCTV footage showed the 25-year-old woman seeking refuge at a kebab shop after the harrowing incident. Her dress was partially torn off, and she was wearing it "inside out", according to media reports.
The woman had spent Friday (July 19) night drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge cabaret before the men reportedly approached her in an unspecified location.
Furthermore, she told the police the five men were of "African appearance" and gangraped her at around 5 am before she escaped and sought shelter at the kebab shop, the Daily Mail reported.
The CCTV footage shows the woman running into the shop, utterly terrified and asking the staff for help. However, minutes later, a man enters the shop, only for the woman to point to him as being one of the men from the group that assaulted her.
The shop owners and staffers called emergency responders to attend to the woman, even as they tried in vain to console the 25-year-old. Two officers could then be seen speaking to the Australian woman about the devastating ordeal before she was taken to a hospital.
The woman was reportedly "disoriented and unable to speak a word of French" as she narrated the incident to the police. She was unable to give details on the exact place or circumstances surrounding the attack, according to the Daily Mail report.
The incident took place in the northern Pigalle district, with the 25-year-old reportedly seen wandering the streets "in a state of some confusion and distress".
The Paris Prosecutor's Office said the police were probing the allegations made by the woman and that CCTV footage was being looked at, BBC reported.
No arrests have been made in the matter so far.
The Australian woman reportedly had booked a flight home for the day after the attack, but is now staying on in Paris to assist the police with the investigation.
Meanwhile, Australia's Olympic team chief Anna Meares was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying that the team was aware of the allegations, and urged athletes to take extra care.
"We don't yet have any feedback from our athletes that they have felt unsafe. We are encouraging them, if they go out of the village, not to go out on their own, not to wear team uniform, just to wear plain clothes," Meares was quoted as saying by Reuters.
There is a huge police presence in the French capital currently owing to the Olympics, which will begin on July 26.
Source: India Today