Self-taught 'hypnotherapist' on trial in France for drugging and raping multiple women while he secretly filmed
Cyril Zattara, 47, is charged with raping 14 women over a ten-year period and secretly filming 20 others.
A man accused of drugging and raping multiple women and filming some of the abuse is standing trial in France.
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Cyril Zattara, 47, a dance teacher and self-taught hypnotherapist, is charged with raping 14 women over a ten-year period.
He is also charged with covertly filming around 20 other women, and has admitted to 10 rape charges.
His trial will be held behind closed doors in the Aix-en-Provence following a request from one of the alleged victims.
Zattara has been awaiting trial since 2021 and has been held in detention since being charged.
The case was opened in 2019 after a 24-year-old woman filed a complaint following a hypnosis session with him.
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She alleged Zattara raped her after she drank from a glass of wine before passing out and later vomiting.
Police found Zattara's DNA under her fingernails and inside her underwear.
Zattara is accused of putting sleeping pills into victims’ drinks before sexually assaulting them.
Blood and hair tests reportedly revealed that multiple victims had been given tranquillisers.
Zattara allegedly targeted women he already knew or had been in intimate relationships with, according to police.
Photos and videos found on his computer reportedly show some alleged victims in a delirious state during sex.
The trial is set to last two weeks.
Some victims have called for open proceedings as they want their voices to be heard by as many people as possible.
It comes after Dominique Pelicot, 72, was found guilty of drugging his ex-wife, raping her and inviting dozens of men to also abuse her over nearly a decade.
Known as the 'Monster of Avignon', he was handed a 20-year jail sentence in December 2024 and will likely die behind bars.
The scandal rocked France, bringing sexual violence against women into the spotlight and inspiring rallies in support of Gisèle Pelicot nationwide.
Gisèle's trial galvanised campaigners against sexual violence and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.
Campaigners against sexual violence were hoping for exemplary prison terms and view the trial as a possible turning point in the fight against rape culture and the use of drugs to subdue victims.