Finnish court dismisses charges in Jasmin Voutilainen assault and attempted rape case

A Helsinki district court has dismissed all charges against a 31-year-old man accused of attempting to rape and assaulting the late Finnish actress Jasmin Voutilainen, ruling that prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence.

The court found inconsistencies between witness statements and surveillance footage, including recordings showing Voutilainen following the man in a shopping centre rather than the other way around, according to the verdict announced on Thursday. The decision is not yet legally binding.

Voutilainen died the day after the alleged incident. Prosecutors had argued she was struck with an object, leaving bruising on her left upper arm, and that she resisted a sexual assault attempt before pushing the man out of her apartment. The accused, who did not testify, was fined €600 for failing to appear at the March hearing.

In a video recorded before her death, Voutilainen claimed the man—described as a foreign national—had spiked her drink at a nearby restaurant after she rejected his advances. Text messages to her mother also referenced the alleged assault, and she shared a photo of her injured arm. While the court called her account “coherent in itself,” it deemed key details too vague to support conviction.

Prosecutors had sought convictions for both attempted rape and aggravated assault, arguing Voutilainen never consented to sexual contact and that the man’s actions caused her pain and visible injuries. The court’s ruling noted that surveillance cameras only captured the pair entering her building together, with the man leaving roughly 40 minutes later.

The case gained public attention amid broader scrutiny of Finland’s mental health crisis; Voutilainen, who struggled with severe depression, died by suicide the day after the alleged attack. Her family had previously criticised gaps in psychiatric care.