The Japan Times - Indian jailed in France for leading sadist Nazi cult that tortured girls

Prosecutors had sought a 30-year jail term for Rohan Rane, a 29-year-old who they described as a Nazi lover of sadism and macabre ultra-violence.

Most of the dozens of victims of the group led by Rane were American girls, the court was told. Many were aged under 15. Other young male members of the masculinist group were from the United States, India, Germany and New Zealand.

Six of the girls, now aged between 18 and 21, made official complaints. About 20 victims were identified but others could not be contacted, prosecutors said.

After five days of hearings, mainly behind closed doors, the court found Rane guilty of offences, notably extortion committed as part of an organised gang, with the aggravating circumstances of acts of torture and barbarity perpetrated on the victims.

Prosecutors said all of the girls were lured by the "CVLT" group that was driven by nihilism, racism, antisemitism, Nazi aesthetics and values, and the hatred of feminists and the LGBTQ+ community.

The group became active ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Discord platform with Rane as its leader.

The Indian went to France to study at a commercial school in the southern town of Antibes before becoming a sports coach.

Vulnerable victims were picked out in online forums and persuaded to send nude images. The men threatened to tell their families and school friends if they did not give in to their demands.

According to investigators, many of the girls were black or Jewish and they were forced to engage in sexual acts or to self-harm with knives, including scoring the names of their tormentors or a Nazi swastika into their skin.

The scenes were accompanied by insults and jeers from the men, who called themselves "war lords". One 26-year-old American group member has been jailed in the United States for the 2021 rape of a 12-year-old.

Rane was first arrested in 2021 in France. US authorities passed on information about his leadership in the "CVLT" group and how he had vaunted his desire to fullfil his "sadism".

A US group, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, first rang alarm bells over "CVLT" in 2020 after discovering disturbing images of a 12-year-old online with the name "Rohan" scored into her skin.

The French hearings remained closed following a US request, despite requests from some of the American victims who came forward that a public example be made of Rane's case.

The court was told that threats had been made to the victims, witnesses and even some US prosecutors.

US authorities have indicated that they will seek Rane's extradition once his sentence in France is served.

S.Yamamoto--JT