In the grounds of an establishment dedicated to care, the Max-Fourestier hospital in Nanterre, two women aged 68 and 78 were raped in their beds on July 27, 2022, indicates The Parisian. Sexual assaults that took place in broad daylight in this building in Hauts-de-Seine and the suspect is still on the run. According to the first elements of the investigation entrusted to the Nanterre police station, the alleged perpetrator of these two rapes was neither a patient nor a member of the hospital staff, as confirmed by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office, which specifies that the preliminary investigation continues.
The tragedy occurred while the patients were lying in their beds, according to an indirect witness, Patrick, whose 84-year-old aunt was hospitalized in the same room as one of the two victims, very shocked by what has occurred. “Despite calls for help from my aunt, no hospital staff came and the rapist was able to escape!Patrick told the Parisian. We then learned that in another room another elderly person had also been raped by this suspect, who would be a patient of the psychiatrist department.e.” For the time being, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office has not confirmed this latest information.
The lack of reaction from the staff is indicative of the public hospital’s lack of resources, which is regularly pointed out. This establishment coexists within the Cash (reception and hospital care center) with several structures for the homeless and a psychiatric service. The management claims to have reacted immediately on the day of the events: “Upon learning of the first event, the security service and the police were immediately mobilized.” Security guards have also been posted in the corridor since then and security measures have been reinforced. For Malika Belarbi, health manager at CGT 92, this serious incident is linked to the fact that the rate of contract workers and precarious workers in the 92 is the highest in France: “There is a huge turnover and we end up with almost empty services.“