Sickening way French woman discovered husband of 50 years ‘drugged and let 72 men rape her’

A French woman who was raped hundreds of times after being drugged by her husband has opened up on how she discovered the sickening betrayal and abuse. Gisele Pelicot bravely took to the stand during the trial of her husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot. Gisele, 71, told the court she had no idea that she had been the victim of more than a decade of abuse by her husband and dozens of men he invited to their home in the small town of Mazan, in the South of France. When her husband was arrested for taking upskirt photos in a supermarket, Gisele accompanied him to the police station, determined that he was a thoughtful “nice guy”. But while at the station with her husband in November 2020, a lieutenant presented a photograph, and asked her “Is this your room?” The horror photograph revealed Gisele in her bedroom, with a man she’d never met. A second snap was also provided, reports the Mirror. Speaking about her feelings in that moment, she told the court: “I’m being raped. The trauma is enormous, I want to go home.” The court was informed that it wasn’t until more than three years later, in May 2024 as the trial approached, that Gisele’s lawyer convinced her to watch the videos recorded, archived and captioned by her husband, with the precision of a documentalist. In a confident voice, she told the courtroom in the Vaucluse Criminal Court in the city of Avignon: “I was sacrificed on the altar of vice. It’s a dead woman on a bed. “This isn’t a bedroom, it’s an operating theatre. They treat me like a garbage bag, a rag doll. These aren’t sex scenes, these are rape scenes, it’s unbearable, unbearable.” When asked whether she and her husband ever discussed filming sexual intercourse, she said: “I never agreed to Monsieur Pelicot filming us having sex. No, the only time we talked about something like this was at the swingers’ room at the nightclub. I understood that he would have wanted to do it. But for me it was impossible.” Mr Pelicot and 50 others are accused of raping the grandmother. And while Mr Pelicot and 14 of his co-accused have admitted their part in France’s worst rape case, 35 men – including civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers – deny that they forced themselves on Mrs Pelicot while she was unconscious, claiming that she in some way consented The trial heard that the couple are now in the process of divorcing, and Mr Pelicot remains on remand accused of a series of unspeakable crimes that could see him caged for up to 20 years. Police discovered images on Mr Pelicot’s camera and laptop that showed multiple alleged rapes of his wife between 2011 and 2020 – the majority committed by strangers he had stumbled upon online. Jérémie Bosse Platière – the officer who first brought Mr Pélicot to justice – estimated that he “committed at least 200 acts of rape against his wife” before strangers began to arrive at their home. They had been contacted by Mr Pélicot on a libertine sex website. Commissioner Bosse Platière said there were hundreds of photos and pornographic videos showing “Gisèle Pélicot asleep and in the presence of other individuals taking part in acts of a sexual nature.” Whilst Mr Pelicot was in custody, his hard drive – which was hidden under a printer – was found. It contained a file titled ‘Abuses’. It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped between 2011 and 2020. Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified. Mr Pélicot moved his family from greater Paris in 1991, and later allegedly set up the sex ring. Participants would discuss performing acts on unwitting partners, and then film their depravity, before storing the videos on a USB drive. Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police. The trial continues and is expected to last until December. Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.