Wife takes public revenge on the men who ‘raped her every night on husband’s orders’
French woman drugged and abused 92 times by 51 attackers waives anonymity to force an open trial
A 72-YEAR-OLD woman has appeared in court to face 51 men accused of sexually assaulting her while she was drugged unconscious by her husband.
Gisèle Pélicot has waved her right to anonymity to insist that the rape trial remains public so “this never happens again”.
In a case that has appalled France, Dominique Pélicot, 71, a retired electricity worker and father of three, is charged with inviting men to have intercourse with Gisèle, his wife of almost 50 years, via a now-banned website in a section called “à son insu” (without her knowledge).
Police counted 92 rapes, committed by 72 men of whom 51 were formally identified, over a 10-year period.
According to her lawyers, Mrs Pélicot was so heavily sedated with date rape drugs that she had “no recollection” of the abuse she suffered at the couple’s large home with a swimming pool in the village of Mazan near Carpentras in Provence.
Defence lawyers and the prosecuting magistrate had called for the trial, which began yesterday at the Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon, to be held behind closed doors as is often the case in rape cases.
They pointed out that footage shot by the husband would be shown to the court and that “not only would it be dangerous to hold the proceedings in public, but it would also undermine the dignity of the individuals concerned”. Some defence lawyers also called for the trial not to become “a spectacle”.
But Mrs Pélicot insisted the trial should not be shut to the public and journalists because “that’s what her attackers would have wanted”, said Antoine Camus, one of her lawyers.
“She is completely determined to face them and her husband with whom she lived for 50 years but whom she knew nothing about, as she discovered at 68,” he added.
Before police revealed footage of the abuse she unwittingly endured, she had described her husband as a “kind and caring” father and grandfather. But Mrs Pélicot, who has begun divorce proceedings, told the judge: “He disgusts me, I feel dirty, soiled, betrayed. I’ve been hit by a high-speed train.”
Another lawyer, Stephane Babonneau, said: “She was dreading this moment but is relieved that the hearing is open and that she will not be locked up for four months with her assailants.
“She wants to raise awareness as widely as possible about date rape drugs so that this never happens again.”
Mrs Pélicot arrived in court in dark glasses and with the couple’s three children, two sons and daughter, Caroline Darian, who has written a book inspired by the case called And I Stopped Calling You Daddy.
Protesters from two feminist groups, Les Amazones d’avignon and Osez le féminisme 84, demonstrated outside the courthouse yesterday, chanting: “Rapists, we see you, victims, we believe you.”
Mr Pélicot, a white-haired retiree in a black T-shirt in court, appeared in the dock to confirm his address, telling the judge: “You know my home, it’s prison.”
The defendants, 18 of whom have been in detention awaiting the trial, are of all ages – from 21 to 68 at the time of the alleged rapes – and walks of life; they include a fireman, lorry driver, councillor, IT worker in a bank, prison guard, nurse and a journalist.
Some were single, others married or divorced, and some family men. Most participated just once in the alleged sexual assault, some up to six times.
Police began to investigate Mr Pélicot in September 2020 when he was caught by a security guard secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping centre.
Examining his computer, they found thousands of pictures and videos of his wife, unconscious. He would then meticulously film and archive their sexual acts, keeping the footage in a file called “ABUSES” on a USB discovered by police.
According to the 400-page indictment, the abuse started in 2011, when the couple was living near Paris, and continued after they moved to Mazan two years later and until 2020.
The trial continues.
‘He disgusts me, I feel dirty, soiled, betrayed’