
Beauty influencer, 30, is 'tied up, beaten and sprayed with bleach' in terrifying armed robbery where thieves 'fled with luxury bags and jewellery'
Soraya Riffy, 30, was assaulted during the horrifying burglary on Friday at her house in Marseille, French newspaper Le Parisien reports.
A spokesperson for Riffy shared a statement her Instagram account, sharing that she had been 'kidnapped, assaulted and [possibly] raped' at around 9:30pm local time after a man arrived at her home posing 'as a neighbour who did not have his keys'.
The man then stormed into Riffy's home, alongside the other intruder.
They then 'tied her up, beat her with a gun and with box cutters, and threatened to kill her'.
The men then fled the scene and took a Cartier bracelet, her house and car keys, two luxury bags, and a Rolex watch with them.
'Today she suffers from a concussion, [her] nose is completely broken and psychologically she is destroyed.
'Her body is a crime scene', the social media statement added.
Riffy lost consciousness during the attack and has no memory of what happened.
But police suspect the influencer may have been sexually assaulted based on her injuries.
Speaking to Le Parisien, Riffy said: 'Certain signs and pain suggest to doctors that I may have been raped when I lost consciousness.'
Her spokesperson also revealed that she had received threats 'from her abductors' just two weeks before the attack, with the criminals trying to extort money from her.
The influencer reportedly had 'repeatedly alerted the authorities to the threats against her'.
'I'm disfigured, disgusted, scared. Too much media exposure leads to danger. I'm going to leave Marseille for good, leave social media for now, I'm lost', Riffy told Le Parisien.
She also shared a video on Instagram showing her bruised face, commenting: 'I'm so disgusted. What I went through today is horrible'.
An investigation has been opened for 'armed robbery, kidnapping without voluntary release, conditional death threats, and gang violence'.
Riffy first rose to fame in 2016 after she appeared on a French talk show.
She is known for sharing fashion and fitness content to her one-million Instagram followers.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Seven immigration arrests after yacht found off Isle of Wight
Seven people have been arrested after a yacht carrying suspected migrants was intercepted in the English boat, which came from northern France, was found by a Border Force cutter off the Isle of Wight on Sunday afternoon, the National Crime Agency (NCA) crew, two Ukrainian men aged 43 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal passengers - four Albanians and a Vietnamese national - were also detained under immigration laws. Senior Investigating Officer Julian Harriman said: "This operation was part of an ongoing NCA investigation led jointly with French judicial authorities and Gendarmerie Nationale."Tackling people smuggling gangs remains a priority for both France and the United Kingdom."The seven suspects remain in custody. The boat was taken to Gosport Marina. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.


Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Melina Frattolin's 'murderer' dad shared video of little girl sledding with creepy 'hush little baby' lullaby
A father who has been charged with the murder of his nine-year-old daughter previously shared a video of the pair enjoying a day out sledding, accompanied by eerie music. Luciano Frattolin, 45, reported his daughter Melina missing in upstate New York on Saturday before an extensive search found the body of the little girl yesterday. Frattolin claimed his daughter had been kidnapped by someone in a white van, but cops later said there were 'inconsistencies' in the father's timeline of events. He was arrested and is now facing charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a corpse, pleading not guilty to murder at Ticonderoga Town Court earlier today. Luciano and Melina had spent the week on vacation in New York, but he was set to hand custody of his daughter back to her mother on Sunday, officials said. Frattolin, the founder of a coffee company, has gushed about his daughter online, calling her the 'light of his life' and sharing pictures and videos of their 'father daughter' time. In one YouTube clip from 2023, he and his daughter are seen enjoying 'quality time' together in the snow in Montreal, something Frattolin said he would 'miss about winter'. The original video is accompanied by lullaby-style music, with the creepy lyrics 'now hush little baby don't you cry, everything's gonna be alright... daddy's here to hold you through the night.' Portraying himself as a doting father on social media, Frattolin's Instagram is filled with pictures of him and his daughter on holidays and spending time together over recent years. In one snap, the little girl is seen celebrating Thanksgiving with her grandmother, while other content shows her enjoying a sunny holiday in Italy, where part of her father's family is from. Earlier this month, the father and daughter traveled to the US from Canada for a vacation, arriving on July 11 before they were expected to return on Sunday. Frattolin, who has been estranged Melina's mother since 2019, was set to bring their daughter back to her mother that day, officials said. Melina's mom had full custody of the child, police added, and at around 6.30pm on Saturday the little girl phoned her to say she was heading back home. Tragically, investigators believe that it was at some point that night that Melina was killed. Police have not yet determined a motive in her killing. The little girl was found in a shallow area of a pond near the town of Ticonderoga, some 45 miles away from Lake George, where her father initially claimed she was kidnapped. Her cause of death is not yet known, and officials said they would perform an autopsy on Monday. New York State Police Captain Robert McConnell said at Monday's press conference that the discovery of Melina's body was devastating. 'This is certainly a difficult case, a heartbreaking investigation,' McConnell said. McConnell said Luciano initially claimed that his daughter was kidnapped near Lake George in upstate New York when he pulled over to urinate in the woods. He said he turned around to find that Melina was missing, and saw a 'suspicious white van' fleeing the scene. But he later said that 'two unknown males forced' his daughter into the white van. When her body was found, detectives said there was no evidence she was ever abducted and there was 'no threat to the public' following Luciano's arrest. Cops said that 'as the case progressed, law enforcement identified inconsistencies in the father's account of events and the timeline he provided.' Lake George, the spot where Frattolin said he last saw her, is a small waterside town in the Adirondack region of upstate New York around 60 miles north of Albany. Frattolin, the son of an Italian father and Ethiopian mother, is the founder of an organic coffee brand called Gambella, according to the product's website, which has been taken down in recent hours. The company's Instagram page, which is still online and only follows Frattolin's account, shared a post on Sunday - hours after Melina went missing and is believed to have been killed. The promotional post plugs the benefits of 'wild-grown' coffee beans and says each of the beans the company uses is picked by hand. A biography for Frattolin on his company's now disconnected website was filled with words of adoration for Melina. 'Luciano currently spends as much time as he can in Montreal, Canada, with his beautiful daughter Melina,' the site read. 'As the light of his life, she is the inspiration for well, everything. His pursuits for building a more equitable and just world are deeply guided by his determination that she will not have to endure the same social injustices that he encountered throughout his childhood. 'Seeing the world through her eyes has also helped Luciano look for creative ways to reinforce and empower Melina to know, feel, and understand her own unique individual beauty and intellect, while also teaching her to celebrate those same virtues inherent in the world's diversity. 'On a lighter note, Melina has also taught Luciano to let go of his rigid tendencies to keep everything in "perfect order" - his love for Melina's messy art projects and chaotic ensemble of toys supersedes his love for a meticulously spotless home. In terms of his career, the biography describes Frattolin as 'an experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record of building diverse, high-performance businesses. 'With a background in the humanities and social sciences, his formal education, together with his pragmatic understanding about the complexities of life, motivates him to maintain an understanding of the world grounded in a distinct cross-cultural ethos. 'The son of an Ethiopian mother and an Italian father, Luciano was born in the small, remote village of Gambella. 'With a childhood spent running between rows of crimson coffee buds on the Ethiopian family plantation, and the neoclassical architecture of his father's Milano, his vision of the world and his pursuits within, reflect these hyphenated cultures.'


BreakingNews.ie
37 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (63) jailed for laneway sexual assault of teenage boy
A 63-year-old man has been jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a teenager in a Dublin laneway. Ronaldo Otto, aka Samantha Otto, of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last May of sexually assaulting the 18-year-old on October 26th, 2022. Advertisement Oisin Clarke BL, prosecuting, said the victim wants to remain anonymous but had no issue with the defendant being named. Reading his victim impact statement to the court, the injured party said he had just left secondary school and turned 18 at the time of the assault. 'I was forever changed after that', he said. 'I'm 21. I won't get to be 18 again… and time waits for no one. I'll never get that time back,' he added. He said he hoped he could 'get closure and move on with my life' and thanked gardaí for getting him through a 'gruelling' trial. Advertisement Garda Liam O'Meara told the court he was on duty at Rathmines Garda Station when the teenager made an allegation that he had been sexually assaulted. The injured party said he was halfway down a lane and was wearing a set of headphones, listening to music when two females passed by. One of the females stopped at the top of the lane and beckoned in his direction. He was not sure if he was being called because he had his headphones in. The injured party said Otto almost immediately 'cupped his penis' through his trousers. He asked Otto to back away. He moved away but Otto offered to give him oral sex and he declined. At this point the injured party took out his mobile phone and recorded some of the incident. Advertisement There was another attempt to touch him and he told Otto to go away, the court heard. The injured party said he was in shock. He called his father who was unable to attend, but his mother came to the garda station. CCTV Gardaí identified Otto from CCTV of the lane and a warrant was issued. Otto was arrested and detained in the usual fashion and was interviewed on two occasions. Otto said it was the injured party who carried out the assault and took a trial date. The court heard Otto has one previous for assault causing harm on April 27th, 2019 and received a suspended sentence on October 20th, 2020. Boiling water was thrown over the injured party who had rejected Otto's advances. The court heard Otto is a male transitioning into a female. Judge Codd asked if the transition was complete. Gda O'Meara told the judge the transition was 'not complete'. Advertisement Pieter LeVert BL, defending, told the court Otto accepted the verdict of the jury in full. He said his client is 63 and is originally from the Philippines and left school early to work. He said his client owned and operated a salon in the Philippines. Otto came to Ireland in 2011 to work in a salon of a girl from the Philippines. Counsel said difficulties with Otto's vocal cords caused his client to have no voice. Having stopped working as a result of that and suffering 'severe financial difficulties', Otto began 'working on the streets'. Mr LeVert said his client was a victim of a robbery and then attempted suicide. Documents A document from Ruhama, an NGO providing support to sex workers, which Otto first contacted in March 2014, was handed into court. Advertisement A document was also handed in about attendance at adult education services and a hairdressing course. Counsel said Otto is biologically male and has been transitioning 'for a number of years' having had a breast augmentation and using a hormonal patch three times a week. Otto has diabetes and there has been 'great caution because of that'. He said there were a number of letters from the National Gender Service who provide psychological services. Mr LeVert handed in two newspaper articles dated February 10th, 2025 and May 30th, 2025 written by journalist Conor Gallagher, saying there was still no formal model of how to deal with transgender prisoners and where they should be housed. Counsel said the article states these people are currently held in the E wing of Limerick Prison where they are typically held up to 23 hours a day in their cells. 'What weight has this evidence? It's a newspaper article?' remarked Judge Pauline Codd. Mr LeVert asked the court to take account of the issues around trans prisoners, that Otto was a foreign national with no family here and his client's acceptance of the jury's verdict. The judge asked what level of English Otto had and counsel said an interpreter was used for the trial however none was used for the sentencing hearing on Monday. Judge Codd noted Otto, who was 58 at the time of the offence, identified as female but is biologically male. The judge said that it created a difficulty in terms of sentencing as Otto has not yet received a gender recognition certificate. The judge noted the injured party believed the person was a woman and when Otto asked him for assistance and so the complainant approached the accused. She noted Otto had claimed to be the victim and the case was fully defended. Judge Codd said the attempt to blacken the injured party's character was unnecessary and egregious. The judge noted the victim gave a moving account of how the assault affected him - that he should be having a good time with his friends and 'feels like his life is being held up'. Judge Codd noted it was clear from his demeanour that the injured party found the court process distressing. A sexual assault of a young person, albeit on a lower scale as it occurred over the victim's clothing, can result in psychological harm, said the judge. The issue of deterrence arose, said the judge, noting there was a previous assault causing harm conviction for throwing boiling water over a person who had rejected Otto's advances. In mitigation, the judge noted Otto grew up under difficult circumstances and there was evidence in that regard from Ruhama. However she said these are cases where the victim feels 'rightly outraged by being violated' in this manner. The judge also noted there was no guilty plea to save the victim the trauma of giving evidence. Judge Codd said although there was no violence, the actions of the accused amounted to a 'gross violation of his bodily integrity'. The touching was aggravated by the 'lewd language' that was used and that the victim was a person who was much younger. The court heard Otto has not expressed remorse but accepted the verdict of the jury. The previous conviction for assault causing harm was not the same type of offence but it related to rejected advances, the judge noted. Judge Codd said Otto was now placed onto the Sexual Offenders' Register. She said the court has a letter from Ruhama, 'where they received personal support.' She said Otto was a person undergoing transition and that it is difficult 'where their gender identity does not align with their biological sex.' Judge Codd noted Otto was on a suspended sentence at the time of the offence and imposed a three-year jail term.