French woman tells “scenes of barbarism” in court and accuses her husband of inviting over 50 men to attack her

A French woman who is alleged to have been abused by her ex-husband and more than 50 other people gave her first statement in court on Thursday.

Gisèle Pélicot, 72, was allegedly drugged and raped after her ex-husband Dominique Pélicot asked men online to join in her abuse. Pélicot also filmed the alleged acts. Police used that footage to arrest him and dozens of others on charges of aggravated rape after a two-year investigation.

Dominique Pélicot, also in his 70s, is said to have recruited at least 72 other men to attack his wife between 2011 and 2020. Of the suspects, police were able to track down 50 of the men before the trial.

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In September 2020, Dominique came onto the police radar after he was caught taking photos of women's crotches in a supermarket. Officers subsequently discovered thousands of photos and videos on his personal devices showing serious bodily harm to Gisèle's person.

“It's unbearable,” said Gisèle. “I have so much to say that I don't always know where to start.”

Gisèle and Dominique were married for 50 years until police revealed the extent of the alleged abuse in 2020. They have three children together.

“For me, everything is falling apart,” said Gisèle. “These are scenes of barbarism, of rape.”

Gisèle's lawyers argued that she was so drugged by crushed pills that she had no idea the alleged rapes were taking place in her own home for nearly a decade. She waived her right to a closed trial in the hope that her public testimony might spare survivors of similar sex crimes.

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A toxicologist called as a witness on Thursday claimed that she was given a “cocktail” of drugs that can cause unconsciousness: Temesta, Zolpidem, sleeping pills and anxiolytics. Gisèle admitted that there are gaps in her memory during the years in which the alleged abuse took place.

Dominique Pélicot told police that he set certain house rules for the alleged rapists, including that they should not wear perfume, wash their hands thoroughly and that the men had to remove their clothes before entering their bedroom.

According to a medical expert, she contracted no less than four sexually transmitted diseases during the nearly ten years of abuse. The alleged rapists were forced by Dominique not to use condoms, including one who was allegedly HIV-positive. The transmission of HIV is not a crime in France except in certain circumstances.

“I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” said Gisèle Pélicot. “They looked at me like a rag doll, like a garbage bag.”

Several of the defendants, aged between 22 and 70, claimed that they were manipulated into the abuse by Dominique Pelicot. Some of them had to wait nearby for up to 90 minutes until Gisèle Pélicot fell unconscious.

“These men entered my house and followed the prescribed protocol. They did not rape me with a gun to my head. They raped me with a clear conscience,” Gisèle testified. “Why didn't they go to the police? Even an anonymous phone call could have saved my life.”

The trial, which began on Monday, is expected to last for the next four months. If found guilty, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

“We will have to fight until the end,” Gisèle said.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.