Man arrested after viral video of alleged rape attempt on Paris train

A suspect has been arrested after footage which appears to capture the alleged attempted rape of a woman on a train near Paris went viral, local media say.

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 attempted to pull down her underwear.

Alerted by her screams, another passenger pulled out her phone to film. The footage captures a man fleeing as the train pulls into a station.

The incident has revived 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, north-west of Paris. He was traced there by investigators, but it is unclear how.

He was not carrying identity documentation at the time of his arrest, but told police he was a 26-year-old Egyptian national, media reports say. He remains in custody.

The alleged incident took place on 15 October between the Choisy-le-Roi and Villeneuve-le-Roi train stations, south-east of Paris.

The video shows shows a man dressed in a black tracksuit and cap onboard a carriage.

Over the sound of a woman’s cries, the woman filming can be heard saying “you stay there” as the man appears to begin approaching her.

The train then pulls into a station, and the man disembarks and flees down the platform.

The woman who filmed the incident, named in French media only as Marguerite, has since been widely credited as having saved Ms Dias from a more serious attack.

Ms Dias, who does not speak French, reportedly filed a complaint with police in Choisy-le-Roi with the help of her brother, who translated her testimony.

The footage has been widely circulated on news outlets and social media. prompting many women to share their own experiences of harassment on public transport in France.

Two other women have since told Le Parisian that they had been victims of the same man.