Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has been jailed in France for rape

Popular Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has been sentenced to six years in prison in France for rape.

The now 37-year-old singer is said to have raped a 20-year-old woman in a hotel in Paris in October 2016 when he was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. He was arrested and spent six months in pre-trial detention, but was released under conditions.

Lamjarred and the victim met in a nightclub in Paris. The two went to the singer’s hotel. There, according to the court, he became “suddenly violent” and raped and beat the woman.

The singer denies the rape and made several statements about what happened. For example, he said that the woman was drunk, that she was after his money and that he would have been scratched by her when they both undressed, reports Le Monde. The judge said in her judgment that no evidence has been found for this, while it has been proven that the woman was beaten by Lamjarred.

Record

Lamjarred is a very popular artist in the Arab world. His song has been listened to millions of times on Spotify and the singer has 14 million followers on Instagram. His song Lm3allem broke the record for the most viewed Arabic clip ever on YouTube in 2016.

There is another rape case against the singer. In 2018, he allegedly assaulted a woman in a nightclub in Saint-Tropez. It is not yet known when this case will be heard. He was also charged with rape in the United States, but that case was dropped in 2016.