For instance, in the hours before they were kidnapped by Marc Dutroux, An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks had attended the performance of a hypnotist named Rasti Rostelli.
"On the evening of the kidnapping, An and her girlfriend Eefje Lambrecks, who was also murdered by Dutroux, had attended a Rostelli hypnosis show in Blankenberge on the coast in August 1995. Father Marchal initially insisted on Rostelli coming as a witness, because he thought that the girls were still lured by Dutroux under the influence of hypnosis. He also bases this on statements made by friends of An and Eefje, who were on holiday with the girls on the Belgian coast at the time of the kidnapping. According to a friend, who testified in court in Arlon on Tuesday, An “was a tigress when attacked; she would never just go along with a type of Dutroux'. This strengthens Quirynen's conviction that the girls must have been confused or weakened by the hypnosis.
Other friends of the two girls, who had previously been hypnotized, also reported fatigue. An had scolded those friends because they had hitchhiked back from the hypnosis evening to their residence on the coast. 'An would never hitchhike herself', says a friend of the girls. Father Marchal concluded earlier that the show must have confused the girls so much that they just hitched a ride with Dutroux.
However, a Rostelli technical assistant, who was due to appear in court on Tuesday, said the shows "posed no danger whatsoever". The court psychiatrist Deberdt will testify later. He previously stated that participants in a hypnosis show usually return to full consciousness after ten minutes. The jury may also get to see recordings of the show in Blankenberge later.
Rostelli had put the two girls under hypnosis. Both were on stage in Blankenberge for almost two hours. The similarly hypnotized friends say it took them hours to fully recover from the hypnosis."
Rasti Rostelli no witness at Dutroux trial', deVolksran, April 6 2004 (english translation via google)
The performance had been recorded and was described in a Dutch magazine article critical of Rasti Rostelli's techniques.
"Eefje shrinks and remains lying on stage. An runs away screaming and has to be brought back by an assistant. He speaks to her a little later in his lingering, compelling voice: 'You are going to feel everything I do with this doll in your body.' Rostelli smiles his sadistic smile. He hammers the head of the rag doll with a hammer. He puts a stick between the buttocks and kisses the cloth lips. An puts two hands in front of her face and screams something unintelligible. Nobody laughs. He lets An sleep for the rest of the show.
He tells Eefje that she must seduce him. Giggling, she asks Rostelli, "Are you coming to the beach?" Nice and romantic.' Now the audience is laughing. After the show, the security video camera records how An and Eefje wander around the casino in a daze. An eats from an imaginary lemon. Eve rubs her eyes. The same night they probably fall into the hands of child rapist Marc Dutroux."
'What he(Rostelli) is doing is simply irresponsible,' says Johan Vanderlinden of the Association for Autogenic Training and Hypnotherapy. "His methods always run the risk of resurfacing past trauma and people who have been hypnotized going home emotionally confused." According to psychologist Piet Vroon, it is not yet really clear what happens in the brain during hypnosis. “One says it's pure role play, with the hypnotized playing along; others believe it goes further.' Vroon believes that hypnotists should at least study their professional literature carefully. Hypnosis as entertainment is playing with fire. It's just not clear what kind of fire is being played with.'"
'Rasti rostelli', De Groene Amsterdammer, August 21 1996 (english translation vis google)
Marc Dutroux had induced similar conditions in the two girls rescued from his basement.
"The Belgian investigating judge who ordered Marc Dutroux's arrest in August 1996 described yesterday how two young girls hid from their rescuers and embraced their torturer when they were freed."
"When Dutroux escorted police to the specially-built cellar where Sabine and Laetitia were held, they "didn't want to come out" and tried to hide from their rescuers, Connerotte said. They thanked Dutroux. It was absolutely terrible. They kissed him. That shows how much he had conditioned them," he said."
'Girls believed Dutroux was protecting them, says judge', The Age(Melbourne, Australia), March 5 2004
It's possible Dutroux had been at Rasti Rostelli's show and upon seeing An and Eefje's suseptability to hypnosis targeted them afterwards. As one of Dutroux's accomplices explained:
"[One day] I asked him why they [An and Eefje] were still with him even though he claimed he had an order. He told me that the people who had placed the order had come, but that they weren't interested in them... Dutroux explained me that he conditioned the girls to be obedient and submissive when they arrived at customers..."
'Het Dossier Nihoul: De knoop in het proces-Dutroux' ('The Nihoul Dossier: The knot in the Dutroux trial'), 2004, Herwig Lerouge, p. 72-73. via
https://isgp-studies.com/belgian-x-doss ... ir#28(NOTE: secondary source used)
