Amsterdam man suspected of attempted rape in Diemen also tied to second sex crime
A 40-year-old Amsterdam man suspected of trying to rape a woman in Diemen late in August is also suspected in another sex crime, the public prosecutor revealed during the first public hearing in the attempted rape case on Thursday. The prosecutor shared no further details about the second case, NU.nl reports.
At around 4:00 a.m. on August 30, the man allegedly tried to rape a woman on Zilvermeeuwpad in Diemen. The woman was walking alone when the man attacked her.
According to the prosecutor, the man put his hand down the woman’s pants, threatened her with a knife, and tried to rape her. He told her she would die if she didn’t have sex with him.
The rape was prevented by two passing cyclists. They noticed the situation, circled back, and pulled the man off the woman. They detained him until the police arrived to arrest him.
The attack came at a time of heightened alertness to women’s safety in Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands. Just ten days earlier, a man brutally killed 17-year-old Lisa from Abcoude in Duivendrecht as she was cycling home from a night out with friends in Amsterdam. That same man is suspected of rape and sexual assault of two other women.
Lisa’s murder, combined with several recent femicides and sexual attacks, sparked nationwide protests against gender-based violence and for creating a society where women can also be safe on the streets. Men sexually harassed multiple women at those protests.
