Emmanuel Macron’s government faced opposition accusations of failing to stem rising crime on Tuesday after a video of a woman and her granddaughter being attacked on their doorstep in Bordeaux prompted shock across France, reports The Telegraph.
On Monday, the grandmother, 73, and her granddaughter, 7, were attacked in broad daylight in the affluent district of Chartrons in the western city famed for its vineyards.
Security camera footage posted on social media, which went viral, show the pair standing at a doorstep, which police say was the home of the woman’s son. Just as they try to shut the front door, a lurking man pounces, violently grabs both victims and hurls them to the ground.
He appears to attempt to abduct the girl but runs away after a dog appears and starts to bark.
A suspect, who has 15 past convictions, was arrested shortly afterwards, said Frédérique Porterie, Bordeaux’s state prosecutor.
The suspect, a 29-year-old French national who has schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication, was sent to a psychiatric hospital in Bordeaux on Tuesday.