ABC's Robin Roberts talks to the alleged victim in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, Nafissatou Diallo in New York, July 24, 2011.
Her name was widely redacted in the American press. Her identity had been pretty much concealed worldwide, save for a few blurry photos. Until now.
Long silent – in fact, long hidden from public view – the woman who says she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn has taken a definitive leap into the public spotlight. In a groundbreaking interview with ABC, Nafissatou Diallo, the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant who helped take down the economic maven with his eye on France’s presidency, shares the dirty details of what happened that Saturday in the Sofitel.
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In an emotional interview with Robin Roberts, the woman known as Nafi says that her typical job became anything but on May 14, when she keyed into a seemingly-empty room 2806. When Strauss-Kahn approached her in a sexual manner, she says, her first thought was “Stop! Stop! I don’t want to lose my job.” According to ABC, she re-enacts moments of the alleged assault, even kneeling on the floor to demonstrate the sex act Strauss-Kahn allegedly made her perform. All details aside, Diallo lays out her one wish for the case’s outcome. “I want justice. I want him to go to jail,” she said.
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But indeed, that might not happen. It’s no secret that Diallo’s credibility has come under scrutiny in the past weeks, after allegations emerged that she changed key details in the story after the initial report. And that wasn’t all, Diallo allegedly lied on her asylum application to get into the U.S. and may have consulted with a boyfriend in an Arizona immigration jail after the attack, saying “I know what I’m doing.”
While it’s fascinating to hear the story from the woman who experienced it, Diallo’s media blitz could be seen as little more than a public-relations move to restore her good graces with the public. DSK may be free from his house arrest, but Diallo seems to want him to be forever imprisoned by guilt and shame.
The full interview will appear Tuesday on Nightline. Her story also appears in this week’s Newsweek.
Nick Carbone is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @nickcarbone. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
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