By Juliette Jabkhiro VANNES, France (Reuters) -A retired surgeon went on trial in western France on Monday accused of raping and sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anesthetic,

A former surgeon is set to stand trial in France on Monday for the alleged rape or sexual abuse of 299 victims, most of them children who were his patients, in what investigators and his own notebooks describe as a pattern of violence spanning over three decades.

The trial for former surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec, who is charged with raping or sexually assaulting 299 victims over three decades, is set to be the largest trial of its kind in French history. NBC News’ Molly Hunter reports on how the country and activists groups are reacting to the allegations against the 74-year-old.

One person has died and several are wounded following a knife attack at a town market in eastern France, in what French authorities have described as an act of terror.

As he began his attack, the 37-year-old was heard shouting, “Allahu akbar,” according to France’s antiterrorism police. The Arabic phrase, meaning “God is great,” is an everyday expression used in religious and nonreligious settings alike, but has also become a war cry in some terrorist attacks by Islamic fundamentalists.