A drunk man posing as a police officer beat a young woman and attempted to rape her near a bus stop in Moscow, Russia's Investigative Committee said.
The Moscow department of the Investigative Committee said the attack took place overnight on September 4 near the Gidroproekt bus stop on Leningradskoye Shosse. The highway is one of Moscow's main radial routes, running from the city centre toward Sheremetyevo International Airport, one of the capital's three main airports, and onward toward St Petersburg.
According to investigators, the man approached the woman while she was standing alone, identified himself as a police officer and demanded that she show her documents. She refused and walked away, but he followed her and attacked when she reached a deserted spot next to a construction site.
Investigators said the man struck her repeatedly, carried out sexual violence against her and tried to rape her. The woman managed to break free and escape by actively resisting him.
Posing as a police officer
In Russia, only officers of the police or other authorized state bodies have the legal right to stop a person in public and demand identification documents. Impersonating a police officer to do so is itself a criminal offence under Russian law.
Criminal case opened
The Golovinsky interdistrict investigative department, which covers a district in the Northern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, opened a criminal case over a crime against sexual inviolability, the Investigative Committee said. The Northern Administrative Okrug is one of Moscow's twelve administrative districts, situated north of the city centre.
Russia's Investigative Committee is a federal agency, separate from the police, that was created in 2011 to investigate major crimes such as murder, corruption and sexual offences. It reports directly to the president and is headed nationally by Alexander Bastrykin. Rape and other violent sexual acts are classified under a distinct chapter of the Russian Criminal Code covering crimes against sexual inviolability.
Investigators said they quickly identified and detained the suspect, who has since been formally charged. A court granted a warrant for his arrest, according to the Investigative Committee.
The Telegram channel "112" reported that the man is a citizen of a foreign country. The Investigative Committee did not name him.
