“I plead guilty to all charges in their entirety. My ex-wife didn’t deserve this. I’m a rapist like everyone else in this room.’
That’s what Dominique Pélicot said on Tuesday during a trial in Avignon in France, where he and 50 other men were on trial for raping the former’s now ex-wife, Gisèle Pélicot.
That’s what Sky News writes.
He has pleaded guilty to drugging her by putting drugs in her food and then inviting men to rape her.
90 men must have participated in this over a long period of years.
According to the prosecutors, 71-year-old Dominique Pélicot offered sex with his wife via a website and filmed the abuse, writes Reuters.
Most of the alleged rapes took place at the Pélicot family home in the town of Mazan in the southern French region of Provence.
According to the media, Dominique Pélicot should have cleaned his wife’s body after the attacks and given clear instructions to the men to warm their hands, not to wear aftershave or smell of cigarette smoke. This was to prevent Gisèle Pélicot from waking up.
Gisèle Pélicot herself has stated that she had strange gaps in her memory until the police accidentally discovered the abuses.
The police did this after Dominique Pélicot was caught filming under women’s skirts in a supermarket.
The trial is open to the public at Gisèle Pélicot’s request. Pélicot’s ex-wife wants to draw attention to the drugs used to commit sexual assaults.
Dominique Pélicot was on the witness stand Tuesday, recounting his actions and asking his family for forgiveness.
The couple have been together for 50 years and have three children.
He has told the court that he had a difficult childhood and has himself been the victim of rape. According to several French media, he cried during his explanation.
Several of the men who allegedly raped Pélicot’s ex-wife have said they were of the belief that the 71-year-old woman pretended to be asleep, but that she had consented to have sex with them.
One of the accused men has explained through his defense that Dominique Pélicot presented the idea as ‘the couple’s fantasy’ and assured that all parties had given their consent.
Gisèle Pélicot – the victim in the case – was also present in court on Tuesday, where she was given the floor.
“It’s hard for me to hear this. For 50 years I have lived with a man who I never for a split second imagined could do this. I had complete trust in him,’ she said in court.
According to several media, she has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France. On Saturday, hundreds of people – especially women – gathered in cities across France to show their support for her.
ritzau
Source: politiken.dk
