She Accused a Moroccan Pop Star of Rape. Online, She Was Vilified.
MARRAKESH, Morocco — Many women who have spoken out against sexual aggression by celebrities have received sympathy, and the men they have accused have often turned contrite in the face of public scorn.
Not
so for Laura Prioul, a 21-year-old Frenchwoman, who says she was beaten
and raped last year in a Paris hotel, where a housekeeper found her
partially naked and bruised in a hallway.
The
man she accuses — a 32-year-old Moroccan pop star, Saad Lamjarred — has
a music video with a half-billion YouTube views, a zealous fan base, a
prominent family and fame enough that King Mohammed VI helped hire a
top-shelf legal team to defend him, according to the Moroccan state news agency.
Since
Ms. Prioul pressed charges last year, she had been so threatened by his
fans that she has gone into virtual hiding. The case has reverberated
through the Arab world and North Africa, where it has illuminated the
risks women may face when they speak up against sexual violence in
countries where rape is often excused and women are more likely to face
condemnation, and even prosecution, than the men accused of aggression.
Mr.
Lamjarred has publicly maintained his innocence in this case, as well
as in two others where he was also accused of assault and the women
later withdrew their complaints.
“I
finally felt ready, although it was particularly difficult, to publish
my story,” Ms. Prioul wrote in an email. She and her mother had not
granted any interviews since the episode but spoke by telephone to The
New York Times. “Finally we are giving a voice to victims of sexual
violence around the world.”
After
Ms. Prioul pressed charges, Mr. Lamjarred was arrested and spent
several months in detention in France before being freed on bail in
April. Upon his release, he published a video showing himself dancing
and singing in the streets of Paris. He is now awaiting a potential
trial and cannot leave France.
For
her part, Ms. Prioul, who works in the hotel and restaurant industry,
has removed herself from social media and doesn’t go out much for fear
of being recognized.
“You
will pay for this, you will die,” reads one of the messages she
received and showed to The Times. “We are going to kill your mother in
front of you.”
Ms.
Prioul, then 20, was visiting Paris with friends when the assault
occurred, she said. Since then, she has returned only when the court or
the police summon her. She says that many websites have smeared her,
saying that she was a professional escort.
“The
purpose of my video is to give my testimony in all sincerity and to
stop the rumors about me for a time, to get a little break,” she said.
Continue reading on the New York Times' website.