Five women experienced a real nightmare in downtown Montreal last April. That same night, one by one, a predator sexually assaulted them in the middle of the street. Extremely violent attacks. The young student is threatened with deportation from Canada.
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A few weeks ago, 21-year-old El Mehdi Badi pleaded guilty in Montreal court to about 10 counts of sexual assault. Surprisingly, this case was never made public by the police, despite the large number of victims and the actions of the accused.
April 2023. It's after 4 a.m. El Mehdi Badi strolls through Rue Saint-Urbain in the Quartier des Spectacles. The young man wants to “let off steam” that night because several women have refused to have sex with him. He was also thrown out of a bar at the end of the evening.
The predator sets his sights on his first prey: two employees of the bar from which he was evicted. He awkwardly offers one of them Putin but is declined. He then tries to kiss the woman on the mouth. When she refuses, he throws her to the ground and attacks her, holding her by the wrists. Her friend intervenes by sticking her fingers in the eyes of the predator, who flees.
It's the start of a long night for El Mehdi Badi. A few minutes later he attacked a woman on Prince Arthur Street. When the woman pushes the persistent stranger away, he punches her in the face several times. He then puts his victim in a chokehold and drags him into an alley. However, the woman managed to escape.
Calls to 911
Twenty minutes later, a new victim. El Mehdi Badi targets a woman on her way to work. He follows her for a few streets and then kicks her so she falls. He then starts punching her in the face and sexually harassing her. The woman screams, but there is no one around. After two minutes, the woman managed to escape to Saint-Urbain. In front of the Montreal police headquarters, she meets a man who calls 911.
El Mehdi Badi is not finished yet. At around 5:10 a.m. he surprised a woman from behind and sexually assaulted her on Boulevard De Maisonneuve, a little further east. The woman managed to seek refuge at home. She then sees the attacker caressing her private area in front of the building. He continues to wander outside when she calls 911.
The same approach was used with his fifth victim, who was attacked on the street. “You like this, this is what you’re looking for,” El Mehdi Badi tells her as she tries to push him away. After 15 seconds, the woman fled, but the predator attacked her again. Her head hits the ground so hard that she suffers a concussion. She is afraid of dying.
The police finally arrested him that same day, very close to the scene of the last attack. During his interrogation, El Mehdi Badi told police he had no memory of the events and asked the victims for forgiveness.
The 21-year-old Moroccan was in the country on a student visa. The school he attended in Quebec was not named during the hearing. Because of his status, he faces deportation and a lifelong entry ban after serving his sentence, crown prosecutor Me Annabelle Sheppard told the court.
The statement on the verdict is scheduled for next February. The Crown intends to seek a custodial sentence, meaning at least two years in prison.