“il processo pelicot: accuse agghiaccianti e scontri in aula”

Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline leaves the courthouse after a hearing in the trial of her father Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her mother for nearly ten years. Credit: AFP

The daughter of the standing trial for enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife on Tuesday clashed with her father at his trial, shouting in the courtroom that he would “die in lies”.

Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.

Pelicot has confessed to being a rapist. If convicted, he would emerge from the extraordinary trial with a record as one of France’s worst sex offenders.

In a closing statement, Dominique Pelicot again admitted to the accusations, saying that his “motive” was wanting to satisfy a “fantasy”.

“I came to do what I did through people who willingly accepted what I proposed,” he told the court.

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Dominique Pelicot, as in previous statements, went back to his past, saying that he was affected throughout his life by a rape he said he suffered at the age of nine in hospital, and then at the age of 14 being forced to witness the gang-rape of a young girl at a building site.

“I don’t know when I’ll get out, but if I do get out (of prison), I don’t have any plans. What saddens me the most is that people think I’m capable of certain things that I’m not capable of doing,” he added.

Family lawyer Antoine Camus then interjected that Dominique Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian, joined in court by her brothers David and Florian, needed an “audible and human response” to the actions she says she is “convinced” she suffered at his hands.

Caroline Darian, a pen name, in 2022, wrote a book “Et j’ai cesse de t’appeler papa” (“And I stopped calling you dad”). She believes she was also assaulted by her father who took intimate photographs of her.

“I am not going to try to convince her with perverse answers,” Dominique Pelicot replied.

“I don’t remember taking these photos. I tell her straight in the eyes that I never touched her.”

He then turned to her directly and said: “Caroline, I have never done anything to you.”

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But she interrupted, saying: “You lie, you don’t have the courage to tell the truth! Even about your ex-wife!”

“You will die in lies! Alone, alone in lies Dominique Pelicot!”, she continued before being interrupted by judge Roger Arata.

Nude photos taken without her knowledge and photomontages of Caroline Darian with lewd titles were found on her father’s hard drive. In some, she appears asleep, sometimes wearing her mother’s underwear.

A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large.

Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse on Tuesday after a hearing in the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home. Credit: AFP
Time for ‘macho’ society to change attitude on rape: Gisele Pelicot

“It’s time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape changes,” said Gisele Pelicot in her closing statement at the trial of her ex-husband and dozens of other men on rape charges.

“It’s time we changed the way we look at rape,” she said in the southern city of Avignon.

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has become a feminist icon by refusing to be ashamed and demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

Gisele, 71, said the marathon hearings were an examination of the “cowardice” of the men who took part in the rapes organised by her husband.

Dominique Pelicot listened, with his head bowed.

“I’ve seen people take the stand who deny rape, and some who admit it,” Gisele said.

“I want to say to these men: at what point did Mrs Pelicot give you her consent when you entered the room? At what point do you become aware of this inert body? At what point do you not report it to the police?”

None of her abusers alerted the police about the rapes that lasted between 2011 and 2020.

“I can hear this gentleman saying ‘a finger is not rape’,” Gisele Pelicot said, in reference to testimony.

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Investigators have counted around 200 instances of rape, most of them by her husband and more than 90 by strangers.

‘Scar will never heal’

Gisele said her former husband “had a lot of fantasies that I couldn’t fulfil”.

“But why did it come to this? I think what he wanted was Mrs Pelicot and not someone else,” she added.

“As I didn’t want to go to a swingers’ club, he thought he’d found the solution by putting me to sleep.”

“I’ve lost 10 years of my life that I’ll never make up for,” she said.

“This scar will never heal,” she added, struggling to hold back her anger.

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Of the co-defendants, only 14 have admitted the charges of aggravated rape, for which most of them face up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

The 35 others deny having raped Gisele Pelicot and maintain that they thought they were taking part in sex games.

Gisele said there was no distinction between them, adding they have “defiled” her.

“They all came to rape me,” she said. “I’m going to have to live with this all my life.”

The trial has entered its final stages, with the civil parties set to deliver their closing arguments later this week.

Next week prosecutors are scheduled to give their closing arguments and make their sentencing demands for the defendants.