Helene Perlant, the daughter of French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, disclosed her traumatic experience of physical abuse at Notre-Dame de Betharram, a school embroiled in a growing sexual abuse scandal. Perlant described a brutal incident involving a senior priest at a summer camp in the 1980s, shedding light on the culture of silence and control that prevailed at the institution. Bayrou faces increased scrutiny over his alleged awareness of abuse claims, while Perlant's account is part of a broader narrative of survivors revealing their stories as legal actions surge against individuals associated with the school.
One night when we were unpacking our sleeping bags, [Father] Lartiguet suddenly grabbed me by the hair, dragged me across the floor for several metres, then punched and kicked me all over, especially in the stomach ... I wet myself and stayed like that all night, damp and rolled up in a ball in my sleeping bag.
Betharram was organised like a sect or a totalitarian regime putting psychological pressure on pupils and teachers so they stayed silent.
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