 "'For me, everything collapsed': The heartbreaking testimony of French woman, whose husband invited 72 men to rape her")
A French woman who was drugged and raped by 72 unknown men after being drugged to sleep by her husband for over a decade recounted her horror upon learning of the abuse she endured.
Dressed in a long orange dress, and white jacket, and sporting an auburn bob, Gisele Pélicot, 71, calmly stepped away from her three adult children to testify in the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon on day 3 of France’s largest rape case.
During her trial, Gisele said she is a “heap of ruins” as she recalled the traumatic moment when police revealed the extent of horrific crimes committed by her husband of 50 years.
Gisele’s powerful testimony of 90 minutes became a turning point in the trial, as she courageously faced a courtroom filled with those who had abused her, confronting the nightmare that had unfolded in her own home.
Here’s what she said
(Please note the report contains details that readers may find distressing)
‘My world fell apart’
Taking the stand, Gisele recalled the moment in November 2020 when she was asked by police to attend an interview alongside her husband.
“I thought we were a close couple,” she told the court.
But he had recently been caught filming under women’s skirts in a shopping centre, and Gisèle told the court she believed the meeting with police was a formality related to that incident.
“The police officer asked me about my sex life,” BBC quoted her saying to the court. “I told him I had never practised partner-swapping or threesomes. I said I was a one-man woman. I couldn’t bear any man’s hands on me other than my husband’s."
“But after an hour the officer said, ‘I am going to show you some things which you will not find pleasant’. He opened a folder and he showed me a photograph.
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More Shorts“I did not recognise either the man or the woman asleep on the bed. The officer asked: ‘Madame, is this your bed and bedside table?’
“It was hard to recognise myself dressed up in a way that was unfamiliar. Then he showed me a second photo and a third,” Gisele said.
According to reports, Between 2011 and 2020, Dominique had amassed 20,000 photos and videos documenting his wife being raped by different men while she was under heavy sedation. Some of these assaults lasted up to six hours, with Gisele completely unaware.
“I asked him to stop. It was unbearable. I was inert, in my bed, and a man was raping me. My world fell apart," Gisele continued.
‘I wanted to disappear’
Gisele further narrated her nightmare after she learnt of the incident and said the only thing she wanted “was to disappear”.
“I told myself: ‘I am going to get in my car with my dog and end it all,’” she told the court, according to Daily Mail.
“But I had to tell my children their father was under arrest. I asked my son-in-law to stay next to my daughter when I told her that her father had raped me, and had me raped by others. She let out a howl, whose sound is still etched on my mind,” she added.
“When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood; they were withdrawn… I think they were in a state of shock. They said: ‘Don’t say such silly things.’”
“[That] evening, the children called constantly saying ‘don’t disappear’… they were worried I might die.” “For me, everything is falling apart. Everything I have built up over 50 years,” she told the court.
However, Gisele said she is “trying to keep on [her] feet for [her] children.”
But she warned her that behind her calm exterior hid inner torment. “When people see me, they say: ‘She’s a strong woman’. The facade looks solid, but inside, it’s a pile of ruins. Everything needs to be rebuilt.”
‘Treated me like a rag doll’
The accused rapists invited by her husband, all aged between 26 and 74 came from all walks of life, and included a local councillor, nurses, a journalist, a former police officer, a prison guard, soldier, firefighter and civil servant.
According to reports in French media, these men were required to follow strict rules. They were instructed not to speak loudly, to undress in the kitchen, and to avoid wearing perfume or smelling of tobacco. In some cases, they had to wait up to an hour and a half in a nearby parking lot for the drug to fully sedate Gisele.
“I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” Gisele told the court. “They treated me like a rag doll, like a garbage bag.”
She added, “When you see that woman drugged, mistreated, like a dead person on a bed – of course, the body is not cold, it’s warm, but it’s as if I’m dead.” Gisele explained that “rape” was not a strong enough word for what she endured, calling it torture.
“Frankly, these are scenes of horror for me,” she said.
‘Take responsibility to recognise’
When asked by the judge if she knew any of the accused, Gisèle said she recognised only one.
“He was our neighbour. He came over to check our bikes. I used to see him at the bakery. He was always polite. I had no idea he was coming to rape me.”
Police have so far identified 50 rapists and are standing trial alongside Dominique, if convicted could face 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.
“I just think they should recognise the facts. When I think of what they have done I am overcome with disgust. They should at least have the responsibility to recognise what they did,” Gisele said.
Over the next few months, the defendants will appear in small groups before a panel of five judges, with Pélicot scheduled to speak next week. Psychologists, psychiatrists and computer experts will also testify, reported New York Post.
After the shocking reality came to light, Gisele found that she was carrying four sexually transmitted diseases.
“I have had no sympathy from any of the accused. One who was HIV-positive came six times. Not once did my husband express any concern about my health,” she said.
According to the Telegraph, Gisèle wanted the trial to be public, so she could “raise awareness, as widely as possible, of what happened to her so that events like these never happen again,” one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, said.
With input from agencies
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