A man has been arrested by French police on suspicion of raping two elderly women in their 90s as they lay in their hospital beds.
The suspect, named as 44-year-old Samir. B., was detained by authorities on Saturday in connection to the double rape of 93-year-old and 95-year-old patients being treated in the geriatrics department of Victor Dupouy Hospital in Argenteuil, located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris.
The suspect was placed under judicial supervision following an initial court appearance on Monday.
Police responded to calls by the hospital security staff shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday after the man was seen leaving the room of the 93-year-old woman, French newspaper Le Figaro reported.
A police investigation found semen on the sheets of the victim’s bed; however, this has not been confirmed as belonging to the suspect, and the police investigation is ongoing.
A second patient informed the responding police officers that she had also been raped earlier that day in her hospital bed. The 95-year-old told the authorities she had been touched sexually by the man and then raped.
The older victim is suffering from dementia, while the 93-year-old victim fell ill on Saturday evening and lost consciousness. Despite efforts by the nursing staff to resuscitate her, she died from a suspected cardiac arrest.
The suspect has initially been charged with one count of rape but could potentially be further charged with murder or manslaughter.
“The second procedure is not opened on the grounds of rape or sexual assault, but in search of the causes of death and the investigations are continuing. An autopsy will soon be carried out,” a spokesperson for the Pontoise prosecutor’s office told Le Figaro.
Samir B. was already known to the police for previous charges of sexual assault.
He is due to stand trial for the count of rape on Nov. 16.
