Woman testifies for the first time after discovering her husband’s rape scheme

A French woman whose husband admitted recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her while she was high on drugs told her trial on Thursday (5) that police saved her life by uncovering the crimes.

“The police saved my life by investigating Mr. Pelicot’s computer,” Gisele Pelicot told the court in Avignon, southern France, referring to her husband, one of the 51 defendants on trial, referring to him only by his surname.

In her first appearance since the trial began on Monday, Gisele Pelicot, now 71, poured out her emotions during nearly 90 minutes of testimony, recounting her unexplained health problems and the decisive moment when police revealed the truth.

For years, Gisele reported suffering from memory lapses and other health problems, at one point thinking she might have Alzheimer’s. In November 2020, she was called to testify before investigators, who showed her videos documenting a decade of sexual abuse orchestrated and filmed by her husband. “My world fell apart,” she told the court.

“For me, everything fell apart. Everything I had built over 50 years,” said Gisele Pelicot.

She told police she had always believed her husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, was an “incredible man.” Her daughter and two sons watched the testimony in court.

During her meeting with investigators, Gisele was confronted with “barbaric” videos showing her “lying motionless on the bed, being raped,” while her husband, in the hearing, kept his head down. “These scenes are truly horrifying to me,” she said.

She also told the five judges present that in the videos she was treated “like a rag doll”. Gisele only had the courage to watch one of the recordings in May. She added that none of the attackers reported the crime to the police.

“Even an anonymous call could have saved my life,” she said, as her husband continued to look downcast.

Lawyers for some of the defendants questioned on Wednesday whether the couple could have had a libertine relationship, or whether it was possible that Gisele had not realized what was happening during the 10 years of abuse.

“Don’t talk to me about sex scenes. Those are rape scenes,” Gisele replied, emphasizing that she has never participated in swinging or any other libertine sexual practice.

She reaffirmed that she was “never an accomplice” and “never pretended to be asleep” when questioned by Chief Judge Roger Arata.

Gisele insisted that the trial be held in public so that all the facts could be revealed. After her testimony, her family authorized her full name to be released. She also expressed her desire to raise awareness about the dangers of so-called chemical submission, in which people are drugged without their knowledge in order to be abused.

“I am speaking on behalf of all the women who have been drugged without knowing it,” Gisele said. “I am taking back control of my life to denounce drug addiction. Many women do not have proof, but I have proof of what I experienced.”

She also challenged the accused to “take responsibility for their actions, for once in their lives.” “I feel sick,” she added. “I have lost 10 years of my life. Inside, I am a field of ruins.”

Gisele Pelicot is divorcing her husband, who has admitted to the allegations against him. He was caught by chance filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket. Dominique, a 71-year-old father of three, meticulously documented his crimes on a hard drive, with a folder labelled “abuse”, leading police to identify 50 suspects besides him.

Investigators counted about 200 rapes, most committed by Dominique Pelicot, and more than 90 by strangers. Gisele said she recognized only one of her alleged rapists, a man who would come to her house to discuss cycling with her husband. “I would see him occasionally at the bakery, I would say hello, I never imagined he would rape me,” she said.

The attacks took place between July 2011 and October 2020, mainly at the couple’s home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 inhabitants in the Provence region.

Most of the suspects face up to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape if convicted. Eighteen of the 51 defendants are in custody, including Dominique Pelicot. Another 32 defendants are free on bail.

Via News Agencies