France: Afghan Migrant Stabs Two Women After Rejected Advances — Chased Down and Beaten by Public

.In a shocking display of public outrage that highlights the deepening rift between the French population and the state’s handling of migrant violence, a legally residing Afghan migrant in his 40s was chased down, beaten, and reportedly stabbed by a crowd of bystanders after stabbing two women in broad daylight.

The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Avenue des Canuts, a busy street in Vaulx-en-Velin, a suburb of Lyon. According to reports from Le Progrès and RMX News, the attacker approached two women in their 30s and made unwanted romantic advances. When rebuffed, he responded with shocking brutality, stabbing one woman in the arm and the other in the thigh.

The attacker then fled the scene on a scooter. However, roughly 20 local witnesses pursued him, ultimately subduing him with physical force. Eyewitness accounts confirm that the man was beaten and stabbed before police arrived. Emergency services transported all three individuals—the two women and their assailant—to nearby hospitals. All are reportedly in serious but stable condition.

A Legal Resident, a Known Pattern

Police sources confirmed the man was a legally documented Afghan national with no immediate history of criminal activity. However, his case follows a disturbing trend of migrant-linked assaults, especially against women, across France and other European countries.

Though this particular crime was not fatal, its implications are severe: it marks yet another example of predatory behavior by male migrants toward women, often cloaked as cultural misunderstanding or dismissed by courts as isolated incidents.

The Crowd Fights Back

What has captured national attention, however, is not merely the violence of the initial attack—but the response from the public. The group of bystanders who intervened did so knowing full well that French law does not permit civilians to administer justice, even in the face of violent crime. Under French penal code, participants in vigilante action may be charged with assault or group violence, regardless of intent.

Still, the crowd acted decisively. As of this writing, no charges have been filed against those who intervened, but authorities have launched a full investigation into the sequence of events and “each individual’s role,” according to Le Progrès.

A Nation Fed Up

While brutal migrant attacks are no longer rare in parts of France, this particular case has struck a nerve with a nation already on edge. Public confidence in law enforcement, courts, and immigration policy has collapsed in many working-class and suburban areas where such crimes disproportionately occur.

According to a February 2025 YouGov Europe survey, 69% of French citizens say immigration levels have been “too high” for too long, and 80% believe immigration is poorly managed. In these communities, there’s growing belief that the state is either unwilling or unable to protect its own citizens—particularly women—from rising violence linked to foreign nationals.

A Sign of the Times?

The response in Vaulx-en-Velin was more than an act of desperation—it may be a harbinger of things to come. Ordinary French citizens, pushed to their limits, are beginning to take justice into their own hands. And they are doing so not out of impulse, but out of the calculated belief that the system has failed them.

As political elites continue to debate policies from safe distances, and courts frequently issue lenient rulings on foreign-born offenders, the people appear to have reached a tipping point: Enough is enough.

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