Unveiling a Nightmare: French Woman Drugged and Assaulted in Decade-Long Ordeal

The trial of a man accused of repeatedly drugging his wife and recruiting more than 70 men to rape her while she was unconscious opened in Avignon, France, this week, drawing demonstrations outside the courthouse and horror across the country. Prosecutors say that for nearly a decade Dominique Pélicot, 71, crushed sedating anti-anxiety medication into his wife’s dinners and used online platforms to invite men to sexually assault her in the couple’s home and other locations used by the family.

In an unusual move, the alleged victim, 72, asked that the trial take place in open court, stating that she wanted the world to know what had happened to her, one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told The Washington Post in a phone interview Tuesday. And although The Post typically does not name victims of sex crimes, in this instance the woman asked to be identified by her married name, Gisèle Pélicot.

In court on Monday, she faced her now ex-husband and 50 other suspects police have charged as among those who assaulted her between 2011 and 2020. Dominique Pélicot has not disputed any of the facts of the case, Babonneau said.

His lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, told reporters on Monday that her client was “ashamed of what he did,” according to French newspaper Le Monde. “He recognizes what he did and there has not been an ounce of protest since the beginning,” she added.

Dominique Pélicot has said the men were all aware that his wife was drugged and unconscious, according to Le Monde. Police believe he laid out strict rules, including that the men should not smell of perfume or smoke that might jog his wife awake, and that they should not wear condoms, Babonneau said.

The Pélicots were married for more than 50 years and had three children, according to French media outlets. He trained as an electrician and worked in different industries throughout his career; she worked as a manager for the French state electricity company EDF. The couple lived in the suburbs of Paris and moved to Mazan, a town in Provence after they retired.

But underneath the veneer of normal family life lay a darker and more twisted reality, according to the case that prosecutors laid out in court.

According to Le Monde, investigators say the alleged victim was raped while unconscious at least 92 times by at least 72 people; they have identified and charged 51 of the suspects. The accused include truck drivers, a fireman and a journalist. They range in age from 26 to 74. Police also found photos of the couple’s daughter and two daughters-in-law that appeared to have been taken without consent while they were in the bathroom or sleeping