“I'm not crying…I can't do it anymore. » After two days of debate, the bookseller from Lanester was finally able to speak before the Morbihan Assize Court. On this morning of Wednesday, November 27, 2024, the victim steps forward to the microphone, small red vest on his back. His eyes sweep across the courtyard and linger on the accused box where his attackers appear, Isaia Bardan, Dylan Berquin and Axel Gallot.
“You’re a poor guy.”
After a few words, his voice becomes hoarse… not for long. From the outset, his gaze fixes on Dylan Berquin. She accuses: “I'm 98% sure you were at my house. You can be 72 years old and not be senile.” A presence that the accused contests, even if Isaia Bardan claims the opposite. “I’ve thought of you every day for three years,” she continues. You ruined my life. You make me want to vomit.” Described as a “hardworking and generous” woman by her daughter, the bookseller recounts this horror night of October 1, 2021. Awakened by a loud noise, she is attacked by two masked individuals. She struggles. In vain. Tear gas bombs, slaps, blows, insults… Everything changes. She calls for help. Nothing. Dragged onto her mat, she is tied up, legs in the air, blindfolded, with a gag to keep her quiet.
Despite the adrenaline and shock, she nevertheless recognizes the voice of one of the attackers. She doesn't know it yet but it's Isaiah Barban, whom she met a few weeks earlier. “He stopped by my bookstore to offer me some jewelry. Then he came back, we talked, we made friends. I offered to pick pears from my house. He had lunch at my table,” she recalls, then addresses him: “You are a poor guy.”
“I am destroyed”
Despite a chilling story, the victim shows herself as she is: full of humor. His sharp tackles against the accused make the room smile. In the box, they don't flinch. “When Isaia drove me to Inzinzac, he tried to touch me between the legs. I squeezed with all my strength. He told me I was beautiful but have you seen my face? I don't look like Marilyn Monroe. Poor guy.” She continues about the rape, gives details of the helplessness of her tormentor, recounts her fear of dying. “When I heard the water, I said to myself: either he throws me in, or he rapes me and then throws me into the water. I don't know how to swim. I was really scared.”
Next comes. Unable to return home, she spent more than three months with her daughter. “I’m still afraid of everything. I can't move in the dark. I still have nightmares. » At his side, his lawyer, Me Élodie Grelot, helps him talk about his past. “I experienced serious domestic violence. I left with my three children under my arm. I have always gotten by in life by working honestly. » Today, her social life is “broken”, confirms her daughter. “I had to stop working, change apartments, I no longer see my grandchildren and great-grandchildren like before. I'm afraid of being followed. I am destroyed. » Her lawyer then asks her what she expects from justice. “Years in prison,” she whispers, before slipping mischievously: “I hope the court will grant them the right to recover some neurons.”
