The girl went to the police against her family’s wishes, making the case public, and it has become a fiercely contested topic nationwide. She and the defendants are all from the same area, and many of their families know one another.

Her supporters created the hashtag #JeSuisKhadija (“I am Khadija” in French). Rights activists seized on her cause, and a petition was created to raise money for her. But others have questioned the girl’s character and credibility, and said that she went with the men willingly. They say that she had the tattoos before the alleged abduction, or that she tattooed herself or burned her own skin with cigarettes.

Before the first hearing, the girl, who had covered her arm with a black glove, said in an interview that she was ready to face her attackers in court.

But the confrontations started outside the courthouse, before the hearing began, when parents of the accused approached her father, some pleading loudly with him to make the case go away, others to apologize quietly — though for what, they did not make clear.

“We are all neighbors,” one father said. “We wish this never happened.”

Inside, several women wept as they saw their sons led into the courtroom in handcuffs; some relatives called out, and one mother collapsed before the police cleared the courtroom. The judge called the defendants, aged 18 to 28, into his office one by one, then sent them back to jail as the case progresses.