2024-03-18 22:15:00
Grouped together on the benches of the courtroom, 13 of them accused him of rape, and 4 of sexual assault. He is Salim Berrada, 38 years old, nicknamed by the press “The Tinder rapist”. For acts he allegedly committed between 2015 and 2016, his trial has begun.
First, there are only two common denominators among the 17 women who joined to file a complaint against Salim Berrada: him, and the fact that they are all young (the youngest was not 18 at the time of the events) . Each of them recounted their experience, almost systematically started on a dating site. The magistrate read all the testimonies; Salim denied them all.
A photographer, he offered them photo sessions at his home. “He told me that I was unique”, his “muse”, they say. On the spot, he offers one, two, three glasses of strong alcohol which they do not dare refuse. They feel bad (too) quickly, more than if it had only been alcohol. Some vomit, others fall for no reason. The investigators believe that there was chemical submission, Salim Berrada firmly contests this.
And then, they all describe the photographer’s change in behavior, his “cold” look, his hands that “grab by the ponytail.” He tackles her, holds her by the wrists while they repeat that they don’t want to, then rapes them.
“I am extremely exhausted by what has just happened,” declared the defendant at the end of the session.
About him, we know that he arrived from Morocco to France at the age of 20, with “20 euros in his pocket” and a place in engineering school. He obtained his diploma, then a permanent contract as an IT manager, before quickly resigning. He took up photography and achieved modest but notable success, but went to prison at the same time. He spent two and a half years there and left in 2019. Targeted by new complaints for similar facts (which he also contests), he returned to detention last July.
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