A suspect has been arrested after footage showing the alleged attempted rape of a woman on a train near Paris went viral, according to local media.
Jhordana Dias, a 26-year-old Brazilian national, was allegedly attacked earlier this month. She told Le Parisien newspaper that the man boarded the train, pushed her and tried to make her pull down her underwear.
Alerted by her cries, another passenger took out her phone to film. Footage shows a man running away as the train pulls into a station.
The incident reignited discussions around women’s safety in France.
According to French media, a man was arrested on Friday evening by transport police in Mantes-la-Jolie, northwest of Paris. Investigators found him there, but it’s unclear exactly how.
He had no identification papers at the time of his arrest, but told police he was a 26-year-old Egyptian national, according to media reports. He remains in detention.
The alleged incident occurred on October 15 between Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve-le-Roi stations, southeast of Paris.
The video shows a man dressed in a black tracksuit and cap riding in a horse-drawn carriage.
To the sound of a woman’s screams, the woman filming can be heard saying “you stay here” as the man appears to begin to approach her.
The train then arrives at a station, the man gets off and flees onto the platform.
The woman who filmed the incident, named in French media only as Marguerite, has since been widely credited with saving Ms Dias from a more serious attack.
Ms. Dias, who does not speak French, reportedly filed a complaint with the Choisy-le-Roi police with the help of her brother, who translated her testimony.
The images were widely distributed in the media and on social networks. prompting many women to share their own experiences of harassment on public transport in France.
Two other women have since declared to Le Parisien that they were victims of the same man.
