THE French pensioner accused of drugging his wife allegedly gave a sick list of rules to the 72 men who he later filmed raping her.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, allegedly invited the dozens of men he met online to assault his wife Gisele Pélicot, 72, after slipping Lorazepam into her food to knock her out.
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The husband allegedly gave the men strict instructions so they would not wake Gisele up when they abused her during the night.
These included no aftershave or cigarette odour, all men had to have neat and clipped nails, among other details The Sun has deemed too disturbing to publish.
After parking a few minutes from the couple’s home, the alleged attackers would undress in the kitchen so they would not accidentally leave clothes behind in the bedroom.
It is understood that Dominique did not want the men to leave clothing behind as that would rouse his wife’s suspicion about the horrific abuse she was allegedly suffering.
Read more on Dominique Pelicot
He reportedly took part in the rapes, filmed them and encouraged the other men using degrading language, according to prosecutors.
No money exchanged hands.
The alleged rapists, aged between 21 and 68, included a forklift driver, a fire brigade officer, a company boss, and a journalist.
Some were single, others married or divorced, and some family men.
While most only took part once, some did so up to six times, it has been claimed.
Only three men fled the house immediately after they arrived, according to her husband’s testimony to the prosecutors, while the others continued to have sex with his wife.
Gisele’s condition “was closer to a coma than to sleep,” according to an expert.
Dominique and 51 other men are all accused of aggravated rape in a trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon, which is due to last for four months.
‘Monster of Avignon’: The case that shocked France
by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter
FRENCH pensioner Dominique Pélicot is on trial accused of drugging his wife and allowing 72 strangers to rape her.
The 71-year-old allegedly invited the men he met online to assault his wife Gisele Pélicot, 72, after slipping Lorazepam into her food to knock her out.
He is said to have then filmed the horrid attacks over nine years between 2011 and 2020.
After being married for two years since meeting in 1971, the pair went on to have three children together.
When the family moved to Mazan two years later, the horrific campaign of alleged sexual abuse directed by Pélicot is believed to have started in 2011 while they were residing close to Paris.
Cops launched an investigation When a security officer discovered the pensioner secretly recording three women’s skirts in a shopping centre in September 2020.
On his computer, hundreds of images and videos of his wife—mostly in the foetal position and clearly unconscious—were discovered, according to the police.
The pictures allegedly depicted numerous rapes that took place at the couple’s house in Mazan, a 6,000-person hamlet in Provence some 20 miles from Avignon.
Investigators also discovered talks on a website called coco.fr, which the police have since taken down, where he allegedly invited strangers to his house so he could have sex with his wife.
Investigators were then informed by Pélicot that he had given his wife strong tranquillizers, including the anxiety-relieving medication Temesta.
Prosecutors claim that the husband participated in the rapes, recorded them, and used degrading language to encourage the other men.
He described at earlier hearings the many measures he used to keep his wife and family from learning of his terrible activities.
Dominique Pélicot is also accused of a 1991 murder and rape, both of which he denies, and a 1999 attempted rape, which he acknowledged following DNA testing.
Although examinations published in court documents reportedly found that the man had a need to feel ‘all-powerful’ over the female body, experts said the man did not appear to be mentally ill.
The shocking trial is due to last until December 20.
Asked to confirm his name and address at the start of proceedings, Pélicot said: “My home is prison, you know it”.
Twenty of the 51 accused individuals—including Pélicot—are being held in custody, while the others remain on bail.
Police counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom were identified and are being tried alongside the main suspect, a former employee at France‘s power utility company EDF.
Meanwhile, before bravely facing her husband at trial, Gisele was shown the horror videos to prepare her for what would be shown in court.
She waived her right to anonymity “to raise awareness as widely as possible” after her horror ordeal.
Gisele’s lawyer, Antoine Camus, said: “She could have opted for a closed trial, but that’s what her attackers would have wanted.
Still, he said, Gisele’s trial will be “a horrible ordeal” for her.
“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over 10 years,” Camus said, adding that his client had “no recollection” of the alleged abuse which she only discovered in 2020.
Another of her lawyers said outside court revealed that re-watching footage of her assault was “difficult, for her and for all the family” but “today the trial begins and the process must go ahead”.
They continued: “In terms of her mood, there is already a sense of relief that the trial is public, and that she won’t be in court alone over four months with her attackers.
“So that provides some comfort. She’s also preparing herself, she knows her words will be highly scrutinised, and will lead to questioning by the defence.
“So today she’s getting ready, she wants to express herself, and she will take the time to do so when it is asked of her and we expect that to happen quite rapidly this week.”
According to Gisele’s lawyer, Stephane Babonneau, presiding judge Roger Arata announced that all hearings would be public, approving Gisele’s request to waive her anonymity and maintain “complete publicity until the end” of the court case.
Ms Babonneau added: “She was dreading this moment but is relieved that the hearing is open and that she will not be locked up for four months with her assailants.
“She wants to raise awareness as widely as possible about date rape drugs so that this never happens again.”
Gisele yesterday told the court how she felt when she discovered the real cause of her physical and mental torment.
She said: “He disgusts me. I feel dirty, defiled, betrayed. It was a tsunami, I was hit by a high-speed train.”
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How you can get help
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.