India’s Gisele Pelicot? The case of UP woman whose husband ‘allowed’ friends to rape her, as he watched

After France was rocked by the horrifying story of Gisele Pelicot, a similarly shocking case emerged from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr. Here, a woman has accused her husband of allegedly “allowing” his friends to sexually assault her for money, all while he watched the assault from Saudi Arabia on video.

This case mirrors the distressing ordeal of Gisele Pelicot in France, where a 72-year-old woman was drugged and repeatedly raped by her ex-husband and dozens of men he enlisted over nearly a decade. The mass rape sent shockwaves throughout the country, resulting in the conviction of all the perpetrators, including the ex-husband, who was recently sentenced to prison.

In the recent Bulandshahr case, the woman, who is currently one month pregnant, sought help from a local police station and narrated her ordeal, The Times Of India reported.

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Here’s what we know about the Uttar Pradesh horror.

(Please note the report contains details that readers may find distressing)

Threatened, asked to remain silent: Survivor

According to TOI, the 35-year-old survivor, who hails from Bulandshahr, married her husband from Gulaothi in 2010 and had four children – two boys, aged 13 and 3, and two girls, aged 11 and 7.

Her husband works as an automobile mechanic in Saudi Arabia and typically visits home once or twice a year. Her ordeal began when three years ago, her husband returned home with two friends and allegedly “allowed” them to rape her.

“Both men live in the same locality in Bulandshahr, and they assaulted me frequently even when my husband was abroad, recording their acts. When I confronted him, he told me to remain silent as they paid him,” the woman explained.

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But even after her husband returned to Saudi Arabia, the abuse continued and this time he watched the videos recorded by his friends.

“My husband would watch the videos on his mobile while sitting in Saudi Arabia. I stayed quiet for the sake of my children, as he threatened to divorce me,” she was quoted as saying.

The woman, now one month pregnant, has bravely come forward to seek justice and filed a complaint at the police station.

Also read: A rape every 16 minutes: The shocking numbers on crimes against women in India

Investigation ongoing

An investigation is currently underway after the woman, accompanied by her family, met with Bulandshahr Senior Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar to file a complaint.  

“Since the matter is three years old, a thorough investigation will be conducted by the local police, and appropriate action will be taken,” Kumar told TOI.

The survivor’s brother, who also works as an automobile mechanic, revealed that their family had only recently become aware of the ordeal when the woman’s husband returned home.

According to him, the couple had an argument, which prompted the woman to finally gather the courage to speak out against her husband.

“She had kept silent for the sake of her children and the family’s reputation. At present, she is nearly a month pregnant. We demand justice. Her husband and his associates are trying to flee abroad to evade arrest,” he said.

Pelicot case made ‘shame change sides’ in France

The Uttar Pradesh case has a chilling resemblance to the Gisele Pelicot case in France, where a woman endured similar abuse orchestrated by her husband for years.

The 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot confessed during the three-month trial of drugging his wife between 2011 and 2020 at their home in the village of Mazan, in Provence. He then admitted to having invited men he met online to their home to rape and abuse his wife, while she was sedated and unconscious.

The abuse came to light in 2020 when Dominique was accused by three women of trying to film up their skirts in a supermarket. Following the investigation, police found 20,000 pictures and videos of rapes and other sexual abuse on the electronic devices seized from his home.

But what made this case so historic is that Gisele, who had the option of a private trial, decided to make the proceedings public to raise awareness for other victims of sexual abuse.

“I speak for all women who are drugged and don’t know about it, I do it on behalf of all women who will perhaps never know,” she said, becoming a symbol of women’s resistance to male violence.

Her bravery in the face of unimaginable trauma turned her into a feminist icon both in France and abroad. “I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too,” she said in a BBC report.

Recently, the court has sentenced Dominique to 20 years in prison. All 50 other accused were also convicted by the court, with no acquittals.

With input from agencies