Gisèle Pélicot – the French woman who was allegedly raped by her ex-husband and 50 other men – has called her attackers ‘degenerates’.
Dominique Pélicot is accused of repeatedly drugging his wife Gisèle over a 10 year period and allowing other men to rape her.
The 50 others are accused of ‘aggravated rape’, while Pélicot dramatically admitted all of the charges on Tuesday as he admitted: ‘I am a rapist, just like everyone else in this courtroom.’
Speaking in court earlier today, Gisèle responded to claims from some of the defendants that she was complicit with her ex-husband.
She said: ‘Not for a second did I give my consent to Mr Pélicot, nor to these men who are behind me.
‘Since I arrived in this courtroom, I have been humiliated. I have been called an alcoholic, an accomplice of Mr Pélicot.
‘I have heard everything. You have to have a degree of patience to endure everything I have to hear.
‘For me, they are degenerates.’
Pélicot said he started the attacks on his wife because he was ‘utterly idle’ in retirement.
He also claimed he ‘considered suicide’ at one point, after learning that his wife was having an alleged affair.
Pélicot has been on remand since 2020, when he was first arrested on suspicion of drugging and then raping Gisèle, while inviting men he contacted on line to do the same.
Last week, psychologists described Pélicot as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character who appeared like a normal husband during the day, and then drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night.
Pélicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of women.
It was while in custody that Mr Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called ‘Abuses’.
There were some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot sex ring involved advertising on a site for ‘partners’ on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the coco.fr site.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case is due to last until December 21.
Fourteen of the other defendants have also admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
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