A second serious stranger-on-stranger attack was reported this week on central Athens’ best-known “high street” of Ermou, with another young woman targeted without provocation in the latest instance.
A similar attack, involving a near-fatal stabbing, took place early last March.
According to reports, a 20-year-old accompanied by a male friend and another couple was suddenly and repeatedly punched from behind by a stranger in the face and side of her neck. The attack took place in broad daylight on Tuesday afternoon, with stores open and thousands of people walking along Athens’ most prominent pedestrian way.
The victim passed out from the attack and was later helped by her companions and passersby.
Two motorcycle police officers immediately called to the scene arrested a man identified as the perpetrator two streets over within minutes, reports state.
The suspect was identified as a 27-year-old Afghan national. He was charged with assault and remanded into custody. Reports a day later on Wednesday, had the suspect transferred to an Athens-area closed psychiatric hospital.
Last March an Iraqi man traveling with German passport was arrested for stabbing a 22-year-old local woman in the back as she was walking along Ermou Street in the early afternoon.
The previous victim sustained two stab wounds, one of which punctured her lung and pierced her diaphragm.
