A migrant from Mauritania is on trial in France this week for stabbing a female co-worker 17 times with a butcher’s knife after being incessantly sexually harassed by the suspect. The charge is attempted murder.
The accused, who is now 50, has been identified as Boulaye M. He is facing life in prison.
The incident took place on June 7, 2020 at a Primark clothing outlet in a shopping center in Serris, a commune in north-central France.
Boulaye and a female colleague, identified only as Isabel, were employed by the same cleaning service at the time and had been working together for several years. Isabel, who is around the age of 40, claims that he had been harassing her and making unwanted advances toward her for some time. She is married and is also a mother, so she had no interest in him. Nevertheless, Boulaye continually called her and sent her text messages, and also propositioned her at work.
While Isabel refused his offers, she was always polite. Friends of hers have described her as helpful and kind. She remained unconcerned since, while Boulaye was often very insistent, he never seemed threatening.
This all changed on the morning of June 7, 2020. Isabel attempted to avoid Boulaye, but they eventually found themselves together in a storage room at the end of a corridor of the Primark shop where they were working. Boulaye took out a butcher’s knife with a 20-centimeter blade (approximately eight inches) and stabbed Isabel several times in the stomach, causing her to immediately fall to the ground. The migrant continued to repeatedly stab her, screaming that she was about to die.
Luck was with Isabel that day because another one of their colleagues unexpectedly entered the room at that moment and caught Boulaye in the act. Caught red-handed, the would-be murderer calmly walked out of the room without saying a word and then fled the scene. The shop’s other employees were horrified to find Isabel lying in a pool of her own blood on the floor.
Police reports say that she was stabbed 17 times, both in the abdomen as well as on her forearms.
Isabel was rushed to the hospital and managed to survive, although she will never be the same person she was before the attack. She was declared unfit to work due to the long-term effects of her injuries.
Police found the bloody knife that was used in the attack in a trashcan on the street a short distance from the shop. A manhunt began for Boulaye, and officers finally located him in Paris six days later, staying at a hotel that he frequented.
Boulaye M. is standing trial this week at the Seine-et-Marne Assize criminal court in Melun. This court is the only one in France that offers jury trials. Boulaye was charged with attempted premeditated voluntary manslaughter after investigators discovered that he had purchased the butcher’s knife used in the attack the very same morning.
France: African migrant on trial for stabbing female colleague 17 times with butcher’s knife