Frenchwoman in mass rape case calls husband, other suspects ‘degenerates’

AVIGNON, France — Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, said on Wednesday “forgiveness does not exist,” rejecting claims by him and one of his chief accomplices that they regretted harming the women they loved.

The trial in the southern French town of Avignon of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men accused of raping his wife has shocked the world. The case has also triggered protests across France in support of Gisele Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence.

“These men are degenerates. They committed rape,” Gisele Pelicot, 72, told the court after her now ex-husband Dominique and the accomplice, Jean-Pierre Marechal, gave testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

“When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don’t have brains?”

Dominique Pelicot, 71, is also accused of having raped Marechal’s wife at her home after drugging her, with the collaboration of her husband.

Gisele Pelicot insisted on a public trial to expose her former husband and the 50 men he is accused of inviting to rape her in a small village in southern France.

“Today forgiveness does not exist,” Gisele Pelicot told the court as she described how her former husband had taken mistresses without hiding the fact from her, and she defended herself from some of the criticisms leveled against her.

“I have felt humiliated while I’ve been in this courtroom. I have been called an alcoholic, a conspirator of Mr. Pelicot,” she said, adding her life had been “destroyed” for 10 years.

“In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that.”

The Pelicots’ daughter Caroline, whose photographs were found on her father’s devices along with images of her mother being raped, was on the verge of tears in the courtroom as her mother spoke.

Dominique Pelicot has denied drugging or sexually abusing Caroline. She has told French media that she started publicly campaigning to fight drug-induced sexual assault to cope with the shock following her father’s arrest.

In court, Dominique Pelicot admitted orchestrating the mass rape of his then-wife. He asked for forgiveness and said he ultimately hoped to win back his former partner, who filed for divorce after learning of the rapes from investigators.

Because of a skirmish between some supporters of Gisele Pelicot and some of the accused on Tuesday evening, the court told attendees not to boo the suspects in the case, telling them they were innocent until proven guilty.

But the court also said it was not a problem if supporters applauded Gisele Pelicot when she emerged from the courtroom, as some have been doing.

Earlier on Wednesday, Marechal, 63, admitted to working with Dominique Pelicot to drug and both rape Marechal’s wife, Cilia, after the men met on a now-shuttered website. Marechal blamed his mentor and a troubled childhood for his actions. Marechal is not among those accused of raping Gisele Pelicot.

“I regret my actions. I love my wife,” Marechal said in the courtroom. “If I had not met Mr. Pelicot, I would have never committed this act.”

Marechal met Dominique Pelicot on a website called Coco, where Pelicot shared with him images of the rapes of his wife by the men he had recruited, describing how he had drugged her.

Marechal said in the courtroom he stumbled across the website by accident and initially refused Pelicot’s request to rape his own wife before acquiescing. Prosecutors say Pelicot drugged Marechal’s wife and raped her while Marechal watched.

Gisele Pelicot said Marechal’s explanation of his childhood was insufficient to explain his actions. “I’ve had trauma but I have not committed crimes,” she said.

Dominique Pelicot acknowledged his guilt in raping Marechal’s wife and said he regretted his actions, adding that he cut contact with them after she woke up while he was in her room. Prosecutors say Dominique Pelicot was recorded in at least three of 12 assaults against Marechal’s wife Cilia.
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