Major newspapers in France and around the world this week highlighted the horror story experienced by Gisèle Pélicot, a 72-year-old woman, mother and grandmother, who was drugged by her ex-husband and sexually abused by dozens of men over a period of nine years.
The case, which has shocked France and the world, currently involves 51 defendants, including Dominique Pélicot, 71, to whom Gisèle was married for almost five decades. Both he and the others have been on trial since last December 2 at the Criminal Court of the city of Avignon, in southeastern France. The trial even faced the risk of being postponed due to the health condition of Dominique, the main defendant in the case, but the situation was resolved and it is expected to continue its course. It is expected to last until December 20.
The horrific details released so far about the case have drawn a disturbing line of the acts orchestrated for years by Gisèle’s ex-husband.
The discovery of years of abuse against the woman came unexpectedly. In September 2020, Dominique was arrested for taking upskirt photos of women in a supermarket in the French commune of Carpentras. During the investigation into this case, authorities in the European country analyzed the man’s computer and found the shocking images: videos of Gisèle being raped while completely unconscious.
According to police, the abuse, which occurred between 2011 and 2020, was committed by around 92 individuals, all recruited by Dominique on online forums. In addition, Dominique himself also committed several acts of sexual violence against his now ex-wife.
In testimony to the court this week, Gisèle, who waived her right to anonymity because she wants to speak out and warn other victims, described the devastating feeling of being confronted with images of the abuse.
“My world fell apart,” she said.
The 72-year-old woman said she only found out about the rapes perpetrated against her when she was called in for questioning on November 2, 2020, about the case involving Dominique in Carpentras. During the questioning, investigators asked her specific questions and then showed her a series of photos that had been taken in her own bed.
“The police saved my life,” Gisèle said on the first day of the trial last week. “I didn’t recognize myself in the first photos,” she said. “It was hard to see myself dressed in a way that was unfamiliar. But then reality hit me. […] It was unbearable. I was inert, in my bed, and a man was raping me,” the woman said.
Dominique admitted to police that he had mixed anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills into Gisèle’s food and wine to keep her unconscious during the abuse. He would then invite the individuals, all strangers he had never met in person, to the couple’s home, giving them detailed instructions not to wake her, such as not wearing perfume and undressing in the kitchen.
According to the police, there were no financial transactions involved in this case and condoms were not required during the abuse perpetrated against the woman, which resulted in Gisèle being infected with four sexually transmitted diseases.
“Everything we built together is gone,” she said, adding that she is shaken by what happened. The emotional impact of the abuse has been devastating on the woman’s life.
After discovering the violent acts in 2020, Gisèle left the house where she lived with Dominique, in the commune of Mazan, and promptly began divorce proceedings, a process that was only completed this month due to bureaucracy.
As reported by BBCto deal with the trauma, she underwent psychotherapy sessions. In her testimony during the trial, Gisèle said that, for much of her marriage, she believed she was living a “happy life” with the man who was her abuser, overcoming financial difficulties together and raising their three children, who have already given her seven grandchildren.
The police have already managed to list 72 men as perpetrators of the abuse against Gisèle – in the images obtained, 92 cases committed by different people were identified – 51 of them have already been duly located and are already on trial in this current case, including her ex-husband. The investigators mention that those involved who were located had a normal life, with jobs and even a family. They are between 26 and 40 years old.
The defendants’ lawyers, for the most part, claim that the men believed they were participating in “consensual acts” – a “couple’s desire” – and that they did not know that Gisèle was under the influence of drugs. However, the evidence gathered shows otherwise, with Dominique supervising every step of the abuse and guiding those involved.
Investigators say they analyzed more than 3,000 images and videos taken by Dominique and found that Gisèle was in a “state of deep unconsciousness” during the abuse.
Eighteen of the 51 defendants, including Pelicot, are in jail, while 32 others are being tried in freedom. One is still at large, but the court will try him in absentia.
The couple’s daughter, who testified at the trial, called her father “one of the biggest sex offenders of the last 20 years”. Caroline Darian, 45, revealed that she was also a victim of Dominique, who had nude photos of her.
“I discovered that my father photographed me, without my knowledge, naked. Why?”, he asked, according to information from the agency. France-Presse (AFP).
“My mother told me: ‘I spent a good part of the day at the police station. Your father was drugging me to rape me with strangers.’ I had to look at photos,” she said, revealing details of the moment her mother discovered the abuse. “How do we rebuild ourselves when we find out about this?” she asked.
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