‘I was sacrificed on altar of vice,’ wife tells rape trial
A woman who was allegedly repeatedly drugged and raped by her now-ex husband and dozens of men he invited into their home has told his trial that her world collapsed after she was “sacrificed on the altar of vice”.
Speaking in a calm and clear voice, Gisele Pelicot (72) detailed to the court in Avignon, France, the horror of discovering that Dominique Pelicot (71) systematically filmed the suspected rapes by dozens of men while she was unconscious.
“I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” she said in evidence. “They regarded me like a rag doll, like a garbage bag... I no longer have an identity. I don’t know if I’ll ever rebuild myself. For me, everything collapses. These are scenes of barbarity, of rape.”
Ms Pelicot, who has waived her right to anonymity, told the court that she hoped her testimony might help spare other women from similar ordeals.
Ms Pelicot only learned of the alleged rapes after her husband of 50 years was caught taking indecent photos of women in a supermarket in late 2020, leading police to search his phone and computer hard drives.
She thanked the lieutenant in the town of Carpentras who arrested her husband. “He saved my life and I probably wouldn’t be here without him,” she said.
Ms Pelicot and her husband of 50 years had three children. When they retired, the couple moved into a house in a small town in Provence. “I thought we were a close couple,” she told the court.
She left her husband after police showed her some of the images documenting her alleged abuse.
She took just two suitcases. It was “all that was left for me of 50 years of life together”, she told the court.
Ms Pelicot told the court her daughter “screamed like a wild beast” when she heard the allegations.
“I will never forget this,” she said. “When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood. They were withdrawn and didn’t react much. I think they were in a state of shock.”
Because Dominique Pelicot videotaped the alleged rapes, police were able to track down – over a period of two years – a majority of the 72 suspects they were seeking.
Besides Mr Pelicot, whose lawyer has said he “always declared himself guilty”, 50 other men, aged 22 to 70, are standing trial.
The trial is expected to last until December. (© The Independent)