Swiss authorities have detained a 22-year-old Moroccan man suspected of murdering a 19-year-old university student and leaving her body in a forest west of Paris, officials reported.
According to a source familiar with the case who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the suspect had previously been convicted of rape and had been ordered to leave France.
The body of the student was discovered in the Bois de Boulogne forest, close to the Paris-Dauphine University she attended.
French officials confirmed that the suspect was apprehended in Switzerland on Tuesday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office stated on Tuesday that the suspect’s identity had been established and he was arrested in the canton of Geneva. “An extradition request will be sent to the Swiss authorities,” the prosecutor’s office told Agence France-Presse.
Prosecutors noted that the Moroccan man was convicted in 2021 for a rape committed in 2019 when he was a minor.
He was released in June 2024 after serving his sentence and was residing in France illegally.
Authorities have only released the first name of the victim, Philippine, who was last seen at the university on Friday.
According to a police source, witnesses reported seeing a man carrying an axe.
This murder is expected to intensify political tensions in France, where the new Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, has pledged to strengthen law and order, tighten immigration laws, and facilitate the deportation of foreigners convicted of crimes.
