Avignon, France: A French court has found the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot guilty of aggravated rapes and all other charges against him.
The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot was read by the lead judge of the court in Avignon, Roger Arata. He hasn’t yet delivered the sentence, which can be up to 20 years’ jail.
A courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier of Gisèle Pelicot and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot during his trial at the courthouse in Avignon, southern France.Credit: AP
The historic case has profoundly shaken the country over the past several months.
Dominique Pelicot admitted that for years he knocked his then-wife of 50 years out with drugs so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults.
The appalling ordeal inflicted over nearly a decade on Gisèle Pelicot, now a 72-year-old grandmother, in what she thought was a loving marriage, and her courage during the bruising and stunning trial, have transformed the retired power company worker into a feminist hero of the nation.
Stretching over more than three months, the trial galvanised campaigners against sexual violence and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.
Dominique Pelicot and 49 other men were tried in the southern French city for aggravated rape and attempted rape.
Prosecutors asked that Pelicot get the maximum penalty and for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others. They also requested a four-year prison term for another defendant who was tried for aggravated sexual assault.
The 51 men were all accused of having taken part in Dominique Pelicot’s sordid rape and abuse fantasies that were acted out in the couple’s retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
