Paris – Two journalists from French news channel BFMTV dramatically intervened to prevent an assault on a woman in broad daylight while they were filming a report on insecurity in the Bois de Boulogne, a large and often troubled park in Paris. The incident, captured entirely on their cameras, occurred just meters from where a student’s body was discovered a year ago.
Antoine Forestier and David Bouteiller were investigating the persistent dangers within the Bois de Boulogne for a report titled “The danger always present in the Bois de Boulogne,” which aired on Saturday, September 20. Their assignment brought them close to the location where student Philippine was tragically raped and murdered a year prior, after leaving Paris-Dauphine University on her way home.
As the team filmed, capturing scenes of strollers and athletes moving through the park’s pathways, a naked man emerged from the woods. The man grabbed a woman from behind, attempting to drag her deeper into the forested area. Without hesitation, Forestier and Bouteiller reacted, shouting at the assailant and running towards him. Their immediate intervention caused the attacker to release his victim and retreat back into the woods.
The journalists maintained visual contact with the assailant, guiding police officers to his location. He was apprehended just minutes later. The victim was subsequently interviewed by the police. Forestier and Bouteiller have since filed a complaint for indecent exposure, and all footage captured during the incident has been provided to authorities to aid the ongoing investigation.
The alarming event underscores the very dangers the journalists were reporting on, particularly as the family of Philippine awaits trial for her alleged murderer, Taha Oualidat. The 22-year-old Moroccan national is reportedly subject to an “obligation de quitter le territoire français” (OQTF), or an order to leave French territory, and is currently held in an administrative detention center. Oualidat has a previous conviction, having served a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of another student in a Val-d’Oise forest in the summer of 2019.
This unexpected real-time intervention has highlighted the continued safety concerns for visitors to the Bois de Boulogne.
