a young disabled victim of rape in the toilets of a shopping center, his mother chases his attacker

These are shocking images which were filmed in the Atlantis shopping center in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes (Loire-Atlantique). On November 22, a mother and her 25-year-old son, suffering from a severe mental disability, went out to do some shopping. Around 3 p.m., the young man went to the toilet alone, but after many minutes without seeing his son return, his worried mother went to the toilet. This is where she surprises a man raping his son.

On video surveillance images of the shopping center, we discover the chilling scene which took place in the men's toilets. Thus, we see the young man with a disability leaving the cabin to wash his hands. Another man, the accused, then pushes him towards the same cabin from which the young man came out. A few minutes later, the mother arrives and sees her son half-naked and vulnerable. The attacker, caught in the act, then fled.

Rape in a Nantes shopping center: the individual pursued by the victim's mother before being intercepted

Faced with this violent scene, the disabled young man's mother's first instinct was to chase the man
who raped her son. However, very quickly, she decides to return to the young man, still undressed in the toilet. The shopping center security was quickly alerted and the sexual attacker was able to be stopped in his escape and kept in the shopping center premises until the arrival of the police, reports Le Figaro.

Questioned about this case by our colleagues, Renaud Gaudel, the public prosecutor of Nantes, pointed out thata judicial investigation for “aggravated rape” was opened. The attacker, believed to be a 36-year-old Algerian, homeless and in an irregular situation, was indicted following his testimony. “(He) recognized the materiality of the facts, but indicated that the victim had been friendly with him”, details the prosecutor before adding that the victim, “is incapable of expressing the slightest consent”.

Rape of a young disabled person in the toilet: the suspect's custody revealed

After being taken care of by a forensic team, the young man was able to join his mother and return home. Placed in pre-trial detention on November 24, the identity of the attacker remains to be verified, underline our colleagues. According to the daily, during the custody of the main suspect, the latter was intoxicated and under the effect of several drugs, in particular that called pregabalin, the “poor man’s drug”,

A drug also known as “Lyrica”. This substance, usually used as a medicine for
treat epileptic episodes and neurological pain, is now popular with certain drug addicts. This gives a feeling of control, disinhibition and strength when consumed. A drug that is still little known, but which is becoming more and more established in France.

Before the rape, this other affair linked to the drug called pregabalin

This is not the first time we have heard of
pregabalin in France, moreover in Nantes. Indeed, in mid-November, a Nantes doctor was arrested in a case of false medical prescriptions. The healthcare professional allegedly improperly issued 541 pregabalin prescriptions to 106 patients between 2020 and 2024.

At the time of the events, our colleagues recall, the public prosecutor was already explaining the dangerousness of this new drug. According to him, the substance intervened “too regularly” in news items related to the city of Nantes. In three years, from 2020 to 2023, 94 legal proceedings were opened in the capital of Loire-Atlantique for consumer cases and for cases ofattacks linked to pregabalin. This case could therefore be added to this already long list of crimes committed under the influence of this substance.