Lionel Gougelot, edited by Laura Laplaud 12:11 p.m., June 14, 2022

Before the assizes of the North, the court will hear the alleged victims of the "rapist of the Sambre" for the first time this Tuesday.

Dino Scala is appearing for 56 rapes and attempted sexual assaults in the Maubeuge region (Sambre valley) and in Belgium.

For some, this confrontation with their attacker is a new and terrible ordeal.

Not all victims will have the strength to come face to face with Dino Scala.

They are too scarred, still traumatized by the rape, or the sexual assault they have suffered.

For them, time has erased nothing.

Others, conversely, will be present at the helm in the coming days, determined to recount these moments of terror as testified by Mélanie, attacked in 1997 when she was only 14 years old.

"He says he doesn't remember me, but I remember him very well," she says.

Dino Scala "is aware of the gravity" of these acts

"I especially want to be able to tell him what I have to tell him in order to be able to rebuild myself", continues Mélanie.

"I've been preparing for it for a while, I'm going to have to do it otherwise I'm going to regret it all my life."

Since Friday, Dino Scala has practically not cast a glance in the direction of the victims present in the room.

However, he claims to want to find an explanation for his predatory behavior.

He admits having wasted lives and says he is aware of the damage he has caused.

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He says he is now ready for these confrontations, according to his lawyer Margaux Mathieu.

"There is a real desire on the part of Mr. Dino Scala to reveal the facts he has committed, to open up because he is someone who is fully aware of the seriousness of the acts he has committed. , who has this sincere desire to express himself, to answer all questions."

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To help the victims in this face-to-face ordeal, three psychologists take turns at their disposal in the courtroom of the Douai Assize Court.