Tinder Rapist Trial: Victim’s Harrowing Testimony Exposes Systemic Failures

Now 33 years old, the young woman recounts how she was sexually assaulted in 2015, during a photo shoot with photographer Salim Berrada, whom she had contacted on Facebook. Once in the studio of the "Tinder rapist", the latter served her a shot of caramel vodka, then wine. Her memories become "jerky and very blurry", she says, adding that the accused served her "one or two" more glasses of wine between outfits.

The young woman says she vaguely remembers images of a sexual act. Weak and unable to walk, she suffered a second rape on the spot. The victim explains why she did not want to file a complaint. "I thought that not talking about it anymore would be easier. The problem is that the brain doesn’t forget. The legs collapsing, that’s a lifelong trauma." When she finally decides to file a complaint, the police officer who receives her at the police station makes her understand that "this is not a rape", then "do what you want, anyway there are two hours of waiting".

During the hearing on this Friday, the accused rejected these accusations, claiming that the relationships with all 17 plaintiffs were consensual. His lawyer supports his statements and asks the victims to provide proof to the contrary. To recall, Salim Berrada had been sentenced in 2024 to 18 years of criminal detention for 12 rapes and three sexual assaults, but acquitted for two plaintiffs. His sentence had been accompanied by an obligation to leave the territory.