A 22-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, who was staying at a taxpayer-funded Dutch asylum center, has been arrested in connection with a violent assault and attempted rape of a 19-year-old woman in the Rotterdam district of Schiebroek. The man, who was staying at a reception centre in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, was apprehended at Dordrecht station on Wednesday after police released his photograph earlier that afternoon.
A Rotterdam police spokeswoman confirmed the suspect’s status as an asylum seeker. According to sources cited by De Telegraaf, he is what is known as a “safe lander” — someone who applies for asylum despite coming from a country considered safe and who has no realistic prospect of being granted leave to remain in the Netherlands.
🇳🇱🇩🇪 Women in the Netherlands and Germany are now trying to defend themselves with "Smurf spray" after an asylum seeker raped and murdered 17-year-old Lisa.
"Since Lisa’s death, many of (self-defense) products have been sold out, including the Smurf spray."
Pepper spray is… pic.twitter.com/CorZ9UKhbi
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) September 2, 2025Rotterdam Mayor Carola Schouten, who is known for promoting Rotterdam as a “dynamic and diverse global city,” had this to say about the crime:”I learned with horror of a serious crime that took place in Rotterdam-Schiebroek. It is terrible what the victim has experienced; it is also terrible for her loved ones.”
She also praised the swiftness of the police response, saying it “has led to the early arrest of a suspect.”
The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, shortly before 5 a.m., on Secretariestraat. The young student had travelled from Rotterdam Central Station on the back of a friend’s bicycle before choosing to walk the final stretch home alone from the Gordelweg. Along the way, she passed a man cycling a cargo bike carrying a brown box. Moments later, she noticed the same man on foot behind her, while the cargo bike was nowhere to be seen. He seized her from behind and threatened her with a knife.
She managed to break free and fled into Secretariestraat, but the man caught up with her, assaulted her, and attempted to rape her. The attack only ended when a local resident was roused by the noise and came outside to investigate. Seeing the student being assaulted, he called out, causing the attacker to flee. The young woman was taken to the hospital immediately afterwards.
Police later examined a driveway on the street as part of their investigation. Neighbors said they had been unaware of what was unfolding outside.
“I heard screams, but had no idea why that was,” one resident said.
Another similar case rocked the Netherlands last year, involving a Nigerian migrant raping and murdering 17-year-old Lisa in Amsterdam.
In January this year, the victim of a Somali suspect stormed out of court when the attempted murder charge against the man was dropped by a Dutch court, despite the victim stating that she was strangled for several minutes by the man. The judge sentenced the man to three and a half years in prison for attempted sexual assault in the case.
