Opening, behind closed doors, of the trial of a trio, accused of the torture of a young woman

They are accused of having kidnapped, tortured and raped a young woman for weeks in 2018 in Calais. The trial of a trio, two brothers and the wife of the youngest, opened on Thursday at the Pas-de-Calais assizes, behind closed doors, at the request of the civil party.

Me Françoise Cambrai wanted the total in camera “at the request” of the victim, the only civil party constituted, absent at the opening of the trial. The lawyer said “hope” his presence Monday. “It would be good, indeed, that we could hear it. Let her be there, if only for a few hours! “, reacted the president.

The trio face life imprisonment

Tried until March 31 for kidnapping, acts of torture or barbarism, rape and attempted extortion against the victim’s father, the trio faces life imprisonment. In the dock, the woman, Cécile, looked rather indifferent, next to her husband Dylan, bent back and staring into space, and her brother-in-law, Jessy.

The facts date back to the fall of 2018. At the end of November, the victim, then 18 years old, was taken care of in a street in Calais by a motorist, haggard, with a shaved head and suffering from numerous burns and wounds. She will recount having suffered an escalation of abuse for more than six weeks at the home of Cécile and Dylan, then aged 37 and 19. She had moved in with them after arguing with her father and breaking up with her boyfriend. According to him, Dylan was an old college friend.

Repeated rapes, simulated drowning

The couple and Jessy, then 22 years old, are notably accused of having deprived the young woman of food and sleep, of repeatedly raping her, of subjecting her to simulated drowning…. If they admitted the facts, they blamed themselves.

Presented by her brother-in-law as the “master of the band”, Cécile, a mother of four children, two of whom are placed, claimed to have acted out of jealousy towards the young woman. “He is a complex personality”, underlined, with AFP, his lawyer, Me Hubert Coquerez, acknowledging the “seriousness” of the facts.

The medical and psychological expertise revealed in the young woman the existence of a post-traumatic disorder and the persistence of nightmares, anxiety and phobic disorders.

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