The trial of Rohan Rane begins Monday in Paris (Article dated October 4, 2026) (Paywalled Archive)
(…) This investigation, launched in France in 2020 following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a U.S. nonprofit organization, is so far-reaching that it required the creation of a task force involving investigative agencies from France, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as the opening of a case file at Europol. Dozens of child sex offenders active on CVLT have been identified, along with about 100 victims in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Estonia, and the Netherlands.
The case against Rohan Rane alone led to the identification of about 20 victims, most of whom were American or British. From the French Riviera, this Indian student coerced them—by intimidating them or threatening to release nude images of them—into masturbating with a knife or a cactus, strangling themselves with a belt, punching themselves, drink urine or bleach, or even self-harm by carving his name and a swastika into their skin—a practice known as “cutsign.” His victims were between 12 and 18 years old.
(…) This fascination is common among most members of these online communities, such as the group 764, created by former CVLT members, into which the FBI has launched no fewer than 250 investigations in the United States. But this narcissistic fragility also fueled his delusional ego and a pathological taste for control and the suffering of others: “I’m a narcissist, and a narcissist likes to have his ego fed,” he explains. He authored a pamphlet titled “How to Get Girls,” detailing his method for “controlling people.”
The young man, who says he was a victim of bullying during his childhood in India, attributes his sociopathic personality to the fact that he “stifled” his emotions: “I think that if I have no emotions, there’s no way anyone can hurt me. I’ve killed off all sympathy and empathy within myself. ” A defense mechanism that he went so far as to elevate to a doctrine by hiding behind a superficial interpretation of Machiavelli: “Encourage people to cast aside their morals and replace their empathy with Machiavellianism.” (…)
The trial of Rohan Rane, a fascist and masculinist student on trial for the sexual torture of minors, will be held behind closed doors (Article dated October 5, 2026) (Archive)
On Monday, October 5, the Paris Assize Court ordered that the trial of Rohan Rane—a 29-year-old Indian student who was 22 at the time of the incidents—be held behind closed doors. He is on trial for running a masculinist chat group where young girls, most of whom were minors, were forced to engage in sexual acts online and to mutilate themselves.
Ordered despite a request for a public trial by Hippolyte Marquetty, the attorney for five American victims, this decision came following a request from U.S. authorities. Active primarily in the United States, “the criminal group” of which Rohan Rane is suspected of having been the leader “has already sought to intimidate victims and witnesses” and threatened U.S. prosecutors, according to the ruling read by the president of the criminal court.
It also cited “dangerous publicity that undermines public morals,” citing the planned broadcast of videos showing scenes of torture and humiliation of the victims—many of whom were under the age of 15—during the trial proceedings scheduled to continue through Friday.
“Main decision-maker”
In addition to the five American women aged 18 to 21 who are civil plaintiffs and are expected to testify via video conference this week, there are many more victims of this group—who communicated on the Discord platform—spanning from the United States to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. (…)
A self-proclaimed fascist, Rohan Rane says he is convinced that the “new world order” would have “the desire to feminize men.” “I am very conservative,” he explains. “This is true of Mussolini, Putin, and Hitler, who are against the LGBTQ+ movement.” He is portrayed as their leader and the “main decision-maker” in the videos. He declined to comment on the request for a closed-door hearing.
Charged with “torture or acts of barbarity against a minor,” “possession and distribution” of child pornography, “inciting a minor to undergo sexual mutilation,” “corruption of a minor,” and “extortion as part of an organized crime ring,” he faces life imprisonment on Friday if aggravating circumstances are found; extortion as part of an organized crime ring is punishable by life imprisonment.
Supported by his colleagues from child protection organizations, Attorney Marquetty unsuccessfully opposed the closed-door hearing, arguing that it was “paradoxical” to try in private a defendant who is accused, among other things, of “isolating his victims”: her clients believe it is “important to raise awareness about the dangers teenage girls face on social media.”
Noting the “absolutely exemplary cooperation with the United States,” the prosecutor recommended not jeopardizing it by defying their request for a closed-door hearing.
Rohan Rane, a violent nihilist student, was sentenced to twenty years in prison for subjecting minors to sexual torture online (Article dated October 9, 2026) (Paywalled Archive)
This student ran an online group specializing in ultraviolence and sextortion. His trial is the first in France involving this movement, which originated in the United States and has been described as “violent nihilist extremism.”
After five days of closed-door deliberations, the Special Criminal Court of Paris sentenced, on Friday, October 9, Rohan Rane, 29, to twenty years of imprisonment for no fewer than twelve crimes and offenses, including “torture or acts of barbarity against a minor under the age of 15,” “possession of child pornography,” “corruption of a minor,” and “extortion preceded, accompanied, or followed by torture or acts of barbarity .”
This litany of offenses all points to the same abject reality: this Indian student, who was 22 years old and living in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) at the time of the incidents, forced—through an online group called “CVLT ”, which he administered on the Discord messaging platform, forced teenage girls—the youngest of whom was 12—to subject themselves to sexual torture. Of the twenty or so identified victims, most of whom were American, six had filed civil suits.
As the verdict—which was lower than the prosecution’s recommendation, having sought thirty years’ imprisonment earlier that day—was read aloud in a session open to the press, the young man—with a body sculpted by weight training, glasses on his nose, and his hands clasped in a triangle on his stomach—listened politely, nodding regularly, while the presiding judge recited the list of charges against him.
According to several participants in the trial, Rohan Rane sat through the hearing impassively, offering no explanation of his motives or his life story, trapped in his narcissism and his need for recognition. “We don’t know who he is. He’s someone who has spent his entire life manipulating others and constructing an online persona. He is disconnected from his humanity and showed no emotion,” said Hippolyte Marquetty, who represents the six American civil parties.
Degrading Acts
The details of his abuses, as well as the video recordings of them—which were shared within his group—were withheld from the public due to the closed-door proceedings ordered following a request from U.S. authorities. Originating in the United States and described by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as “violent nihilist extremist” networks, these online communities have, in fact, already sought to “intimidate victims and witnesses” and threatened U.S. prosecutors, according to the ruling read on the first day of the trial by the presiding judge, who also cited “dangerous publicity for public morals.”
But the brutal and degrading acts committed by the student were meticulously described by investigators in their official report. Like other members of his group and this online movement, Rohan Rane forced his “slaves”— as he calls them, via webcam—using blackmail or threats—to masturbate with a knife or a cactus, to strangle themselves with a belt, to drink urine or bleach, or to self-harm by carving his name and a swastika into their skin—a practice known as “cutsign.”
Beyond the two dozen or so victims attributed to him—chosen because of their ethnic backgrounds (Black, Jewish, Arab, or Hispanic) or their political activism on the left or for the LGBTQ+ cause—this sprawling case has identified about a hundred victims in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, and the Netherlands, as well as dozens of perpetrators. These young men of all nationalities share a fascination with extreme violence, as well as with neo-Nazi, fascist, and masculinist ideologies, and in some cases, with pedophilia.
“Immense frustration”
Investigators and researchers studying this phenomenon nevertheless agree on one point: these ideological references are not necessarily the driving force behind such overtly sociopathic behavior. More often than not, they serve to legitimize a preexisting desire for violence and domination and provide the perpetrator with a transgressive narrative that allows them to gain recognition within these communities, which are described for this reason as falling under the umbrella of nihilism.
Attorney Hippolyte Marquetty reached the same conclusion following the hearing. “This individual, who exudes immense frustration, lived in a world of domination and competition on the Internet just to feel that he existed. He appropriated neo-Nazi or masculinist ideas, but I don’t believe he actually believed in them—it was just a facade. These aren’t people who think; they engage in extreme violence simply to exist.”
For ECPAT 360, a French NGO fighting sexual exploitation and child trafficking that is a civil party alongside Rohan Rane’s victims, this case demonstrates “the ripple effect of online content promoting far-right and masculinist ideologies.” “These ideologies served as a catalyst and justification for Rohan Rane, who targeted his victims on the grounds that they were Jewish, Black, Arab, Hispanic, LGBT, feminist, or anti-fascist. ”
“These nebulous ideologies are spreading massively on social media and digital platforms, which act as a sounding board for a segment of the youth,” warns the NGO, which calls for these platforms to be held accountable. According to the 2026 report on the state of sexism in France and the masculinist threat by the High Council for Equality Between Women and Men, 17% of French people over the age of 14 reportedly subscribe to “hostile sexism.”
Execution Videos
The phenomenon of violent nihilism—in which members idolize mass murderers and perpetrators of school shootings and consume execution videos on specialized websites—is still in its early stages in France. It is, however, already well documented in the United States, where the FBI—which has opened no fewer than 250 investigations into another group, “764,” founded by former members of “CVLT”—considers this movement to be a “domestic terrorist threat.”
“Rohan Rane is the first person to be tried in France for this type of crime, but we know he won’t be the last,” warns the NGO. There will be at least one other: in August 2025, a 21-year-old man was arrested at his parents’ home in a village in Normandy. Investigators discovered more than 2,000 child pornography images on his computer, including videos of infant rapes, as well as images of traffic accidents, mass killings, and decapitated animals.
They also found screenshots of videos featuring very young girls in situations similar to those staged by Rohan Rane: facing the camera, some stabbed themselves in the thigh and breasts with a knife, or carved their first names—along with the number “764”—into their skin in letters of blood. While in police custody, the young man explained that he had joined the group because of his fascination with gore and extreme violence.