A young Comorian woman, Raanti A, has spoken to RFI about multiple rapes she alleges she was subjected to by a man she is related to, who she says also invited several other men to sexually abuse her – one of whom she claims is the Comorian minister of justice.
Raanti A, who is 27, says she was repeatedly raped between 2018 and 2022 by various men at the invitation of her late father’s cousin – a 47-year-old public servant working at the Ministry of Planning.
One of the men she accuses of participating in the rapes is the Comorian Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Anfani Hamada Bacar.
She told RFI she recognised him last April when she saw that he had been appointed as a minister.
She says this shock led her to file complaints two months later, in June 2025, in both France and in the Comoros.
In these documents, which RFI has seen, Raanti A says that around 10 people subjected her to rape, sexual assault, acts of deliberate violence, false imprisonment, human trafficking and forced abortions.
Bacar told RFI that he knows the victim, but “categorically denies” the rape allegations.
"These allegations are completely false and without any basis. I have no idea what could have motivated this person to accuse me of these alleged rapes," he said in a written response.
'I just had to keep quiet and endure'
Raanti A says that her ordeal began in 2018, when her mother suggested she ask her late father’s cousin for money to pay her university admission fees. The man is regarded as an influential figure in the community. She says she went to meet him at his home.
"He said that he would help me, but that he wanted something in return. Suddenly, he pushed me on to a mattress and positioned himself on top of me. I panicked, I screamed, I cried. He kept saying 'it's going to be OK, relax'," she told RFI. She said he then raped her.
"When I got home, I took a shower immediately and scrubbed my body to try and get rid of his smell," she continued.
She said she attempted suicide the following day.
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In the complaint registered by the police, Raanti A alleges that he subjected her to several sexual assaults and also handed her over to other men who raped her.
"He would ask people he met by chance or people he knew if they wanted a girl or a woman to have sex with. And most of the time, people accepted," she said.
According to Raanti A, the man was present during the alleged rapes by other men, which she says took place in isolated houses, huts and cars, in the town of Moroni, on the island of Anjouan and in Tanzania.
She also alleges that the man forced her to terminate eight pregnancies resulting from rape, including one at six months that required surgery. Abortion is illegal in the Comoros, except in cases of serious medical reasons confirmed in writing by two doctors.
Raanti A told the police officer who took her statement in France: "It wasn't just sexual violence, it was an attempt to completely dominate my body, my will, my freedom. "
She continued: He deleted my social media accounts, changed my passwords, confiscated my phone and my credit card. Then he forbade me from seeing friends or going to university. I felt possessed. I followed him without asking questions. I had to keep quiet and endure. I think he was afraid I would end up talking about it."
RFI contacted the man several times in order to put the allegations to him, but received no response.
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'You're not alone'
Raanti A has lived in France as a refugee since 2022.
After she arrived in the country, she says she moved three times, because the man always managed to track her down. She also alleges that he raped her in France.
On one occasion, French police intervened on grounds of physical assault, but the case did not progress.
She showed RFI two psychological reports from examinations carried out in June and in July, which conclude that she is suffering from "post-traumatic generalised anxiety disorder, which may be linked to the repeated assaults, particularly sexual, that she reports".
After Raanti A filed the complaints, she claims her mother was intimidated into attempting to convince her to withdraw them.
She also says that her partner received messages from an unknown person with offers of €10,000 to take her to Italy.
The lawyer representing her also claims to have been intimidated by "judicial authorities", saying: "Certain people have an interest in seeing this case buried."
Raanti A believes that the case has a better chance of being heard in France than in the Comoros.
She added that her mother and brothers have assured her of their support and that her mother told her: "Do what you can, you're not alone, we must prevent other women from going through what you've been through."
According to the United Nations, 17 percent of women in the Comoros have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence.
This article has been adapted from the original version in French.
