Investigators have detected signs of rape on the body of a 19-year-old student found in a Paris forest. The suspect was arrested in Geneva and it turns out that the Moroccan migrant (22) was due to be deported for a previous offence.

The arrest of a Moroccan migrant who is suspected of raping and killing a student in Paris has significantly amplified the migration debate within France. „We must expand our legal arsenal,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on his social media page on Wednesday. The prosecutor’s office has opened a preliminary investigation on suspicion of manslaughter and rape.

Après l’interpellation de l’auteur présumé du meurtre de Philippine, je tiens á adresser mon soutien et mes pensées émues á la famille de cette jeune fille.

Ce crime est abominable et l’on ne peut qu’être révolté par cette vie volée, bouleversé devant la douleur de ses parents…

— Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) September 25, 2024

The body of the19-year-old university student named Philippine was found last Saturday in the Bois de Boulogne forest in Paris. German newspaper Die Welt quoted judicial sources as saying that the alleged perpetrator was a man of Moroccan origin, who had previously served a prison sentence for rape and was awaiting deportation. However, as Morocco, just as in many other cases, did not issue the necessary papers, the migrant was finally released in France under specified conditions, according to official information. The suspect was arrested in Switzerland and the government quickly extradited him to France.

„This migrant had no right to be here, but he was able to offend again in total impunity. Our justice system is too lenient,”

the right-wing National Rally party chief Jordan Bardella said.

La vie de Philippine lui a été volée par un migrant marocain sous le coup d’une OQTF.

Ce migrant n’avait donc rien á faire sur notre sol, mais il a pu récidiver dans la plus totale impunité.

Notre justice est laxiste, notre État dysfonctionne, nos dirigeants laissent les…

— Jordan Bardella (@J_Bardella) September 24, 2024

„Another illegal immigrant, another deportation not carried out,” wrote right-wing representative Marion Maréechal.

Laxisme migratoire, laxisme judiciaire : tout a dysfonctionné et a conduit á la mort de la jeune #Philippine. pic.twitter.com/WRjcNUgoUO

— Marion Maréchal (@MarionMarechal) September 25, 2024

For his part, the leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, criticised the release of the suspect before the papers required for his deportation from Morocco had arrived. Morocco and other countries do in fact regularly refuse to provide the necessary documents for the deportation of their nationals. The issue is one of France’s ongoing diplomatic conflicts.