how the analysis of the hair of Lilwenn, raped since she was 9, helped convict her father

Lilwenn, now 15 years old, suffered sexual violence from her father for years. Assaults experienced while she was drugged with a sleeping pill intended to plunge her into a state of chemical submission. This criminal process, which causes victims' amnesia, resurfaced in the news during the Mazan rape trial and the testimony of Gisèle Pelicot.

The documentary Submission chemical: so that shame changes sidesdirected by Linda Bendali and broadcast Tuesday January 21 on France 2 at 9:10 p.m., examines these news items that have become social facts. Carried by the testimony and voice of Caroline Darian, the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot who has been fighting for four years with her association for the public authorities to take stock of this scourge, the film is supported by numerous testimonies from victims. This choral documentary questions the modus operandi of attackers, which is often difficult to detect. It also demonstrates that this sexual violence concerns all levels of society.

In Lilwenn's case, the abuse began when she was 9 years old. “Every time my mother was at work, my father took advantage of it, explains the girl in the film. After my parents separated, on weekends when we went to his house, I slept with him. (…) There were also evening cuddles…”

Every evening, before going to bed, the young girl used to eat fruit yogurt, which her father prepared for her. “When he came back, there was the spoon inside, the cover was gone, continues the young girl. [On pouvait voir qu’il] had been mixed, because as soon as I ate it, it tasted very strange.” The attacks continued for several years, even though as she grew up, Lilwenn tried to push her father away. “Lilwenn still refused quite regularly [ses assauts] (…). I think it was easy for him to give her medicine so she could sleep.”comments his mother, Sandrine.

At the age of 13, Lilwenn revealed to her mother the rapes she had suffered for years. The latter immediately filed a complaint against her ex-husband. A procedure then begins to prove that the young girl was drugged. A hair sample is taken from the victim in the laboratory. “Lilwenn should not dry her hair or straighten it in relation to the heat [qui peut altérer les prélèvements]. Nor dye themsays his mother. And above all [il ne faut] more drugs to be able to find which molecule he could have actually given her.”

Three months later, analyzes showed that Lilwenn had indeed been poisoned by an over-the-counter sleeping pill in pharmacies. “It is a medicine prohibited for children under 15 years of age,” his mother is indignant. Thanks to the very long hair that her daughter has worn since a young age, the laboratory managed to trace its analyzes back to 2018, when Lilwenn was 9 years old.

“As the years go by, the dosage increases very sharply until the discovery [des faits] in 2021. All the periods where dosages explode are those when there are school holidays.”

Sandrine, mother of Lilwenn

In the documentary “Chemical submission: so that shame changes sides”

The father quickly confesses to the sexual assault, but denies having given his daughter medication. A way, Sandrine believes, of trying to escape what constitutes an aggravating circumstance in the eyes of the law. The confirmation provided by hair analyzes validated the young girl's version, whose simple words might not have been enough. His father will be sentenced to fifteen years in prison for rape with the administration of sleeping pills.

The documentary Chemical submission: so that shame changes sides, directed by Linda Bendali is broadcast Tuesday January 21 at 9:10 p.m. on France 2 and on the france.tv platform.