French minister vows increased protection for citizens following student's rape and murder

France's conservative interior minister on Wednesday vowed new rules to "protect the French" after a Moroccan man suspected of raping and murdering a 19-year-old student then leaving her body in a Paris park was arrested in Switzerland.

A source close to the case told AFP the alleged attacker was a 22-year-old Moroccan man. Prosecutors have said the suspect had been previously convicted of rape and been the subject of an expulsion order.

The killing of the student is expected to further inflame political tensions in France where the right-wing government that took office this week plans to crack down on immigration.

New interior minister Bruno Retailleau said "This is an abominable crime" and authorities need to "develop our legal arsenal to protect the French".

"If we have to change the rules, let's change them," added the minister, who has vowed to boost law and order, tighten immigration legislation and make it easier to deport foreigners convicted of crimes.

The student's body was found in the Bois de Boulogne park in western Paris, not far from the Universite Paris-Dauphine she attended. Only her first name, Philippine, has been released. 

 Man with pickaxe 

Witnesses had reported seeing a man with a pickaxe, said a police source.

A Moroccan national was arrested on Tuesday in Geneva and identified as a suspect in the Paris murder, a Swiss justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP. Extradition proceedings are being prepared, she added.

The Paris public prosecutor's office said a rape and homicide investigation had started and that French authorities seek the extradition "as quickly as possible".

According to prosecutors, the man was convicted in 2021 of a rape committed in 2019, when he was a minor.

He had been released in June having served his sentence, then placed in an administrative detention centre.

In early September, a judge freed him on condition he reported regularly to the authorities.

The judge's decision was motivated by the fact that the man neither sought asylum nor opposed the extradition order, according to a copy of the ruling consulted by AFP.

He also did not engage in any threatening behaviour while in the detention centre.

But just before the student's murder, the suspect had been placed on a wanted list because he had flouted the conditions of his release.

 'Time to act' 

 The killing has sparked outrage in France, with far right and left-wing politicians urging tough measures.

"Philippine's life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant who was under a removal order," Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right RN, the largest single party in parliament, said on X Tuesday.

"Our justice system is lax, our state is dysfunctional and our leaders are letting the French live alongside human bombs," he added.

"It's time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not mince words."

Former socialist president Francois Hollande said deportation orders had to be enforced "quickly".

France routinely issues deportation orders, but only around seven percent of them are enforced, compared to 30 percent across the European Union.

Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, an expert in public law, said French authorities were issuing too many orders.

"We are seeing an increase in the number of removal orders issued against people who -- we know from the start -- cannot return to their country of origin or transit," she said.

Lorrain Merckaert, mayor of the Paris suburb of Montigny-le-Bretonneux, said he was in contact with Philippine's parents. He expressed his "deep sadness" at "this terrible tragedy".

Officials said a funeral would take place at Saint-Louis cathedral in Versailles on Friday.