Dominique Pelicot, a man who repeatedly drugged his wife and invited strangers to assault her, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after a landmark trial.
The 72-year-old admitted to drugging his wife Gisele’s food and drinks and confessed to all the charges.
Along with him, 51 other individuals were tried for their involvement in the attacks on his wife. Almost all of the 51 defendants were convicted of rape, and each was found guilty of at least one additional offense.
During the trial, Dominique Pelicot stated, “Like everyone else in this room, I am a rapist.”
Gisele, his 71-year-old ex-wife, waived her right to anonymity and insisted the trial be conducted publicly. The explicit videos of her rape, recorded by her husband, were also shown in court. Gisele explained her decision by saying, “It’s for them, not for us to feel ashamed.”
Women worldwide have shown their support for Gisele as large-scale protests against sexual assault have taken place across Europe.
In solidarity with Gisele, women gathered outside the courthouse in Avignon, holding signs that read, “Gisele: Women thank you.”
Gisele is set to make a statement after the verdicts, and she arrived at court this morning with a smile.
The Pelicots were married for 50 years and had three children.
Before Dominique was imprisoned in 2020 for filming upskirt videos of women in a store, they had a seemingly normal life.
Police discovered thousands of images and videos of men having sex with Gisele while she was asleep after searching the couple’s home and technological gadgets.
Gisele told the police what had occurred to her since she was so high that she didn’t remember being attacked.
The males had treated her like “a rag doll, like a rubbish bag,” she told the court.
Even while Dominique denied ever mistreating their oldest daughter, the hard drive also included pictures of her in her undies.
France is debating whether to amend its rape statute, which does not currently require sex to entail consent, in light of the trial.
Prosecutors must instead demonstrate that a criminal intended to rape by employing “violence, coercion, threat or surprise.
