Rape ‘atrocity’ case shocks France: Nation horrified as 29-year-old woman suffers colon perforation after being sexually assaulted and tortured with broomstick by 18-year-old
- 29-year-old woman was repeatedly raped by attacker Oumar N., prosecutors say
- Oumar broke into the victim’s home in Cherbourg where he tortured her with a broom
A 29-year-old woman has been repeatedly raped – sometimes with a 29-inch-long broomstick – and tortured by an 18-year-old man in a sickening affair that sent shockwaves across France.
The victim, who remains unnamed, was grabbed by the neck and repeatedly punched in the face and body by assailant Oumar N. after bursting into his home in Cherbourg, in the north-west of the country, on 4 August, according to prosecutors.
The horrified woman was thrown across the room and raped ‘multiple times’ by the attacker, who also used the broomstick to sexually assault and torture her, reports Le Figaro.
The victim was left naked and bloodied on the floor of her apartment before she managed to reach her phone and call the doctors who rushed her to Pasteur Hospital in Cherbourg.
The ‘barbaric’ attack left the 29-year-old victim with horrific injuries including a punctured colon, small intestine and diaphragm as well as fractured ribs.
A 29-year-old woman was repeatedly raped – sometimes with a 29-inch-long broomstick – and tortured by an 18-year-old man in a sickening affair that sent shockwaves across France (image by ‘archive)
She is still in a coma and is fighting for her life ten days after doctors operated on her serious injuries for several hours.
“The investigators are shocked, they have never seen so much barbarity,” a source familiar with the matter told Le Figaro.
Days after the ‘atrocity’, Oumar N. was arrested after cops matched fingerprints left on a doorknob inside the victim’s home to the 18-year-old and geotagged his phone to home at the time of the attack.
When questioned by police, sources say Oumar N showed ‘no emotion and no empathy’ for the victim and initially denied the attack before being shown the fingerprints.
“He has a dangerous profile, he showed absolutely no emotion and no empathy for the victim,” a source familiar with the matter told Le Figaro. “He was cold throughout his time in custody.”
Prosecutors said the sinister attacker, known to police for allegedly sexually assaulting his four-year-old sister, was charged on Saturday with “rape accompanied by torture or acts of barbarism”.
The victim told the police that she had seen Oumar N. in Cherbourg before the attack but did not know him, revealed Pierre-Yves Marot, the public prosecutor of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin.
The attack she suffered and the resulting injuries, including puncturing parts of her abdomen and small intestine, shocked doctors and residents of Cherbourg.
Doctors and nurses who treated the victim when he arrived at hospital were reportedly so horrified by his injuries that some collapsed and burst into tears. Psychological support is now being provided to doctors, reports France Blue.
French politicians have expressed outrage at the attack, with some on the far right blaming an apparent rise in “barbarism” in France for the rape.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally, tweeted: “Courage to the 29-year-old victim, umpteenth life shattered by the barbarism that is spreading to France.”
Far-right French politician Eric Zemmour, who ran for president earlier this year, wrote on Twitter: “I dream of a France where a young woman does not risk ending up in a coma after having been robbed, raped and horribly tortured by repeat offender Oumar in her own home.
