Togolese man on trial in France for 'voodoo rapes'

A young Togolese man went on trial near Paris Tuesday charged with raping and assaulting three adolescents in voodoo exorcism sessions.

The man, who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, is accused of raping the niece of his girlfriend and her two elder sisters.

"I did something that was not good," the 28-year-old father-of-two told a court in the eastern suburb of Bobigny, adding that he had now stopped practising voodoo.

The 41-year-old mother of the girls, who allegedly gave her consent to the rituals, also went on trial for complicity.

The alleged rapes took place between 2010 and 2011, and the suspect is accused of making cuts on the girls' hands and legs and applying a black powder to the wounds. He also washed their genital areas.

The man was arrested in February 2011 after his last alleged rape. The verdict is due on Friday.

Cases of voodoo exorcisms come up from time to time in France, which has a large African community. Recently four men were sentenced for holding a young woman captive and torturing her as they believed she was possessed.

 

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