Why is PSG star Achraf Hakimi being investigated for rape?

French prosecutors have reportedly opened an investigation following rape allegations against PSG player and Morocco star Achraf Hakimi.

According to a legal official who spoke to the Associated Press, French prosecutors have launched a preliminary inquiry into the rape allegations made against Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi.

The prosecutor’s office in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, is leading the charge of the inquiry. The official refused to elaborate on the allegation or respond to media reporting about what allegedly occurred.

Per the report from AFP, a 24-year-old woman has reportedly accused Hakimi of raping her at his home in a suburb of Paris last Saturday.

This woman reportedly went to the police station in Nogent sur Marne (Val-de-Marne) to report the details of Achraf Hakimi’s rape.

According to this source, they had first connected on the social media via Instagram in January. She had travelled to the player on Saturday night in a VTC (chauffeur-driven transport car) that Hakimi had ordered.

She claims that Hakimi, 24, kissed her and touched her inappropriately before raping her there.

The women further added that she kicked him out. As per the source, a friend, contacted by SMS, came to rescue her.

Le Parisien even went on to report that Hakimi was alone at the time of the incident, based on social media posts that showed his wife and two children were on vacation in Dubai.

Despite the woman’s refusal to submit an official complaint, according to the outlet, France’s public prosecution still opted to take up the case and investigate it anyway.

PSG & Achraf Hakimi’s response 

Requests for reaction from PSG authorities have gone unanswered as of yet, while Hakimi hasn’t responded to the alleged charges in the media either.

The public prosecutor’s office in charge of the case, according to AFP, declined to comment but expressed concern to the news agency that “information already made public” in the media “undermined the necessary investigations to find out the truth”.

Born in Spain, Hakimi was a pivotal member of the Morocco team that created history by becoming the first-ever African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar.

The 24-year-old full-back recently attended the Best FIFA awards ceremony in Paris on Monday, where he was also named in the Fifa Fifpro Men’s World Team of the Year.

By doing so, Hakimi became the first African player to be named in the World XI after Didier Drogba in 2007.

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