Plaintiffs begin testifying on second day of ‘Tinder rapist’ trial

Faced with the story of his alleged victims, Salim Berrada, who appeared for rape and sexual assault, plays on the nuances between lies and truth.

Seventeen women accuse Salim Berrada of having abused them. The man nicknamed the “Tinder rapist” appears for acts of rape and sexual assault between 2014 and 2016. On the second day of his trial, Tuesday March 19, his alleged victims began to give their story.

They are crowded together on the benches reserved for them. All these women come each in turn to give their testimony. They comfort each other and encourage the first of them, a 30-year-old woman, blonde, slender. Ten years ago, she wanted to get into modeling. Having just arrived in Paris, she contacted Salim Berrada via Facebook. She saw his photos there and appreciates his notoriety.

They agree to do a shoot and the photographer immediately offers alcohol during the meeting. She refuses. When she arrives at his apartment, an apartment in deplorable condition, the photos begin first dressed, then in lingerie. She improvises poses on all fours, back to him. That’s when he jumps on her, she said in tears. She stops and continues: “He threw himself at me. He was in his boxers. I didn’t see when he took off his clothes. I refused and tried to push him away. He wanted to take off my bra “she says. “You seduced mehe said to him, You got what you wanted.”

She finally manages to leave, shocked, then in denial. It took her two years to file a complaint, when other victims came forward. Today, a professional photographer herself, she is a victim of bruxism – she grinds her teeth pathologically – and she has lost confidence in men. She has nighttime fears.

For Salim Berrada, the facts described at the bar never existed

The accused stands up and the words tumble out of his mouth. Notes in hand, he knows his file by heart but he struggles to convince his judges. “Yes, I’m a cad, he admits. Yes, I made a moral mistake because I only had one goal: to try to sleep with her. But this woman clearly told me no and we left it at that.” “Besideshe adds, she spontaneously came back to me so that we could see each other again.” The victim explained that she wanted to recover the photos from the session for fear that he would use them against her.

And these glasses of alcohol offered to each victim? For the prosecution, they are proof of chemical submission for rape. Why offer them every time? Is this a ploy to lure them to his house? The judges want to know if the accused ambushed the victims under the pretext of taking photos with them.

And what does he think of the victim’s story? He answers aside. “Madam is lying?”, the attorney general reminds him. “She doesn’t tell the truth, answers Salim Berrada. Not telling the truth is lying.”he concedes. “Well, here !” launches the attorney general. “Yes, but there are many nuances between truth and lies”, assures the photographer. This nuance between truth and lie is the ridge on which the accused tries to stay.