France: Afghan Man Charged With Raping 80-Year-Old Woman to Death in the City of Niort

Police have been investigating the incident and finally made an arrest on Sept. 27, with the Poitiers prosecutor’s office confirming the suspect was born in Afghanistan and arrived in France in 2005.

He has been placed in pre-trial detention, as reported by French newspaper La Nouvelle République and later confirmed by prosecutor Rachel Bray.

The case sparked fear and anger in the region of Deux-Sèvres, especially due to the woman’s advanced age.

The police do not have an exact age for the suspect, but he is believed to be 20 years of age.

Police are still investigating why the man assaulted the woman.

The Afghan man has been charged with “rape resulting in death without intent to cause it.”

The town and region remains stunned by the case, which involved a rape so severely violent that the woman succumbed to her injuries.

So far, the prosecutor has left details of the case under wraps, but more information could come out during the man’s trial.

According to French newspaper France Bleu, “on the streets of Niort, some residents speak of an ‘abandoned’ neighborhood, where fear is taking hold. The contrast between the victim’s advanced age and the brutality of the attack is particularly shocking. Voices are being raised to denounce a growing sense of insecurity, with many feeling ‘left to their own devices’ and regretting that ‘the state has failed to protect the most vulnerable.’”

Notably, the city, with close to 60,000 residents, is known for its beautiful architecture and proximity to the Deux-Sèvres Marais Poitevin Regional Nature Park.

As noted by the French media, violence and burglaries in Niort have increased substantially since 2016, even if the small city is far safer than cities like Paris.

More recently, the year 2023 was marked by an overall increase in delinquency, rising 4.8 percent compared to 2022. Despite a 22.54 percent drop in drug trafficking, categories such as home burglaries and sexual violence saw their figures increase by 15.77 percent and 6.14 percent, respectively.

The elderly being targeted for rape by foreigners in France is nothing new, with a wave of such attacks occurring in recent years. In many cases, the victims have been in their 80s, but some have also been in their 90s, and in one case, the victim was 102.