Insidious attack in Neuchâtel. A Swiss woman was sprayed with acid in the underground car park of her flat. She was first taken to hospital by the ambulance service in Neuchâtel. She was then taken to the Chuv University Hospital in Lausanne.
The crime happened on Thursday morning at 7.53 am at Rue de L’Evole 53, as the Neuchâtel cantonal police said in a statement.
The victim is the model Elise T.* (24 yrs). “She is a wonderful person,” a neighbour tells lematin.ch. “A lovely girl, very pretty.” Elise also took part in a beauty contest in western Switzerland a few years ago.
The woman was first cared for by a neighbour who had been alarmed by her cries for help. The neighbour showered the woman with plenty of water while they waited for professional help.
The 24-year-old woman’s life is not in danger.
Three hours after the crime, a 19-year-old man living in the region was arrested in the La Maladière district thanks to a large-scale operation. He is now in custody.
The suspect is a refugee from Afghanistan, as Georges-André Lozouet, spokesman for the Neuchâtel cantonal police, explained to the newspaper BLICK.
“Whether the suspect and the victim know each other and what their relationship is, I cannot say at the moment,” Lozouet adds. “I also cannot make any statements about the motive yet.”
Police are looking for witnesses who made suspicious observations in connection with an “athletic” man about 170 cm tall wearing a black mask or balaclava in the area of Rue de L’Evole and Esplanade du Mont-Blanc on Thursday morning.
Public prosecutor Sylvie Favre has opened criminal proceedings.
- Name changed