The rape victim of a Moroccan immigrant living in Paris has demanded an official inquiry after the suspect allegedly murdered and raped another young woman whose body was found on September 19.
The 22-year-old suspect, identified as Taha O., is a Moroccan national who had been imprisoned for the rape of the first victim for five years and then released in June. He was then transferred to a detention center to await deportation but was released on September 3 by a judge due to administrative delays. Three days after he was released, Morocco authorized his return, but he could not be located by authorities. He allegedly raped and murdered his second victim, identified as 19-year-old Philippine, just 3 weeks later.
His first victim wrote an open letter, obtained and translated by The Times, to Agence France-Presse, stating: "I would like the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into the prevention of repeat offending in cases of sexual and sexist crimes. I did everything possible so that what happened to me would not happen again. I filed a lawsuit so that the rape I suffered would be … recognised, so that my attacker would be found guilty and so that I would recognised as a victim. I held firm during a two-year investigation and trial, telling myself that this initiative would help to protect other women."
She said that immediately after Taha O. was freed from serving five of his 7-year sentence for his heinous crime against her, he is hot water with the law: "He appears to have offended again and committed an irreparable act. If that is the case, why? Why did the prison service fail to stop this repeat offence? Why didn’t they stop this spiral of violence that led to the murder of a young woman?”
She said that she was "intensely sad" and added "Philippine could have been my sister."
The previous rape victim demanded that the "failed" deportation procedures that allowed the alleged crime to occur be "corrected," but not take away from "the paramount question of repeat offending."
“What preventive measures are planned and put into practice in custody?” she said. “What is the impact of detention on the reduction of the risk of repeat offending?”
Taha O. was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing from France. France is demanding his extradition from Switzerland. The lawyer who represented Taha O. at the first rape trial, Maître Laura Beauvais, stated to Le Parisien, "I felt enormous sadness for the family and friends of Philippine. I also felt guilt because I was the only person on the outside with whom Taha was in contact. Finally, I felt a lot of anger sat seeing that Philippine’s murder was being exploited politically."
