At the Assize Court of Seine-Saint-Denis,
Since the events, his speaking engagements have become rare. It is an understatement to say that his hearing this Monday afternoon was eagerly awaited. It is 5:30 p.m. when the victim drags his 94 meter height to the bar of the Seine-Saint-Denis Assize Court. Red down jacket, beige t-shirt and pants, chain around his neck, the young man, who has lifelong aftereffects after receiving a baton blow near the anus, asks to remain standing.
“I will sit down if necessary,” he explains to the president, Jadis Pomeau. In a few words, he introduces himself. “Hello everyone, my name is Théodore Luhaka, I am 29 years old. Today I’m at home, I don’t do much. I’m staying at home. » Behind him, seated on chairs, the three police officers tried for “intentional violence” with aggravating circumstances, listen to him describe how his life changed during an identity check, on February 2, 2017, in the district of Rose-des-Vents in Aulnay-sous-Bois.
Théo talks about “his new life”
With his hands placed on the desk, Théodore Luhaka said he had “changed” a lot since the events and had lost most of his friends. “I was unbearable,” he explains. I am more bitter, meaner, withdrawn. » Little by little, “people move away” from him. Speaking quickly and swallowing words, the young man, who is “traumatized”, recounts his “new life” and his “incontinence” problems. “The disease I have is that of women who give birth,” he explains awkwardly. When he was younger, he dreamed of being a footballer. But since he was injured, he has “never been able” to return to sport and has gained around ten kilos. But what bothers him the most is the image he conveys in his neighborhood and what people say about him. “Theo is the one who was raped, the one who had his butt eaten by the police,” he said, visibly disturbed.
“He did it voluntarily”
The last of eight siblings, Théo was no longer living in Aulnay-sous-Bois at the time of the events but in Belgium. Apartment problems forced him to return, for a time, to Seine-Saint-Denis, to be with his family. That day, shortly before 1 p.m., he was getting ready to watch his series – Monk – when his sister called him to ask him to bring a pair of shoes to one of her friends. On the way, he approaches a group of young people he knows to greet them. It was at that moment that the three accused arrived to control the small gang. They would then have attacked “a little one from the neighborhood”. The intervention degenerates. Théo claims to have received “a punch in the face”. From there, he only had “one thing in mind: getting to the camera angle.”
He remembers asking the police: “Why are you doing this? » “The only response I got was: ‘Shut your mouth, you nigger, shut your mouth,’” he whispers. The president observed that he had never mentioned these “racist insults”. “I forgot to talk about a lot of things,” he says. The officials, he adds, then tried to handcuff him. He struggled. “For me, they just wanted to take me around. Besides, as soon as they handcuffed me, that’s what they said: ‘We’re going to take you to the corner to celebrate,’” the civil party further asserts. Concerning the thrust received in the anus, Théo is certain: Marc-Antoine C., the main accused “wanted to hurt. He did it voluntarily.” A general practitioner reportedly told him that it was “impossible that there was only one blow” with a baton.
“They were laughing”
The police then brought him to the police station, “like a trophy”, uttering racist insults and spitting on him. In the car, one of them allegedly tried to grab his “private parts” while another punched him. It was only once he got out of the vehicle that the accused realized that he was bleeding “from his ass”. “They were laughing,” remembers Théo. One of them even took a photo of it in order to post the photo on Snapchat. Finally, the station manager alerted the firefighters who transported the young man to hospital.
Seven years after the events, he claims to have no plans for the future. “Whatever I do, people will tell me: ”Théo Luhaka, if you have a problem, it’s because you were raped.” They put a truncheon in my buttocks, for me they raped me”, estimates the young man who repeats that he has “today the after-effects of a woman who has just given birth”. “I am not a cripple, I am dead. I’m going to watch Monk for the rest of my life,” he laments. His family “will continue to live with a living dead person”. “The one who brought good humor and joy to life at home, he is no longer there. If anyone is looking for him, they know he’s in his room watching Monk. Most of my friends are married with children. I will always be labeled Théo. Whatever I do, I will be disruptive. »