A Frenchwoman who was sexually violated by scores of men after her husband drugged her today branded them all ‘cowards’ and spoke out against ‘a macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialised.’
Gisele Pélicot, 72, was on Tuesday giving evidence for the last time at a trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, in which 51 defendants face lengthy prison sentences.
Ms Pélicot has waived her legal right to anonymity to testify against husband Dominique Pélicot, 72, who had been described by his own son as ‘the devil incarnate’, and the 50 others.
Staring continually at the men who abused her over at least a decade, Ms Pélicot said: “Since the beginning of this trial, I have heard a lot of whispered, unacceptable things, but that is how this trial had to happen.
“‘I knew what I was going to be exposed to by refusing to go to a closed hearing. Obviously, I recognise that I am feeling tired today.
“I have been omnipresent. I find it very difficult when people say that it is practically commonplace to have raped Madame Pelicot.”
Like the others, Domininque Pélicot is accused of “aggravated rape,” after inviting the men to the family home after contacting them online. He has admitted the crime, and also using drugs to put his wife to sleep.
Referring to the couple’s old bedroom in Mazan, near Avignon, Ms Pélicot, said: “At what point, when you entered this room, did Madame Pelicot give you consent?
“At what point, when you saw the inert body, did you not say to yourself that something abnormal was happening in this room? I heard I was remote-controlled, I was drugged, I took Zolpidem [a drug used to treat insomnia].
“We ask ourselves, when did we realise what was going on? Why didn’t we denounce what was going on? For me, this is a trial of cowardice. The trial of Gisèle Pelicot is the trial of cowardice.”
Becoming more emotional, Ms Pélicot said: “Society needs to open its eyes to the fact that we live in a macho, patriarchal society where rape is trivialised.”
Ms Pélicot was supported in court by her youngest son, Florian Pélicot, 38, who on Monday told his father: “I am very grateful to have our mother alive, but I have a lot of incomprehension about what our father did.”
Mr Pélicot added: “You always said that our mother was a saint. But you, you were the devil incarnate.”
All of the couple’s three adult children have testified against Dominique Pélicot, who is on remand and appearing in court in a glass-fronted dock.
The retired electrician and estate agent crushed sleeping pills into his wife’s food and drink, then invited the strangers to rape her between 2011 and 2020.
He kept hundreds of videos of rape on his computer in a file entitled “Abuse,” and has admitted the charge against him, telling the court: “I am a rapist.”
Some of his co-accused admit rape, while others say they did not know Gisèle Pelicot was drugged, despite videos showing her snoring loudly.
Ms Pélicot, a former logistics manager, has become faminist icon after saying the trial has raised awareness of the use of drugs to rape women.
The trial continues and is due to end on December 21.
