French police are investigating whether bystanders who failed to help a woman being sexually assaulted on a metro train can be prosecuted. The attacker, a 19-year-old man, was jailed for 18 months for the assault in Lille.
The 30-year-old victim described how five people waiting on the platform ignored her appeals for help. When the attacker followed her into a carriage, all the other passengers moved into another compartment, leaving her alone.
She escaped at the next stop and tried to flag down cars before an 18-year-old driver stopped to help. He was then attacked by the assailant, who was eventually subdued by hospital security guards.
Prosecutor Frédéric Fèvre has opened an inquiry into whether the passengers can be charged with failing to aid a person in danger, an offence under French law. 'I am disturbed by this aspect of a society where someone is capable of getting into another carriage and leaving a woman on her own,' he said.
If convicted, the bystanders could face up to five years in prison and a €75,000 fine. Police are reviewing CCTV footage to identify them.
