In yet another attack on a foreign national in the city, a 57-year-old French woman was assaulted by a drug addict on Thursday evening.

The police, who have booked the accused for assault, suspect that he might have been getting withdrawal symptoms and could probably be mentally unstable.

The incident took place around 7.30pm when the victim, identified as Caroaleine Claudon, was walking past the Mumbai Bank near Sterling multiplex in the Fort area.

According to Dharmendra Tiwari, a passerby, the drug addict tried to snatch Claudon’s purse; but when she resisted, the accused punched her across the face several times. “She started bleeding profusely and was rushed to St. George’s Hospital. The locals nabbed the accused and handed him over to the police,” said Tiwari.

Receiving information, two mobile police vans rushed to the spot. “He was probably getting withdrawal symptoms. He had no money to buy himself drugs or food,” said Ravindra Shisve, deputy commissioner of police (zone-1).

Police said that the accused, Saiful, is from West Bengal. He came to Mumbai on Thursday.

“He told us that he was hungry and had not eaten for three days. When he approached people for food and was allegedly beaten up. He then saw the victim and on realising that she was a foreigner, he attacked her. He can only speak in Bengali and it is difficult to understand what he says. We have called for a translator to record his statement,” said Narendra Singh, senior inspector of Azad Maidan police station. He will be produced in the court on Friday.

Doctors at the hospital said that Claudon has sustained an inch-long cut on her cheek. “We have sutured her wounds — two stitches on the cheek. We have taken X-rays and referred her to an Ear Nose Throat (ENT) specialist to check if her hearing has been affected. She has also been administered glucose intravenously,” said Dr Jagdish Bhavani, superintendent, St. George’s Hospital.

Claudon had come to India on December 18.