In a disturbing incident, a 70-year-old French woman has alleged that her husband recruited over 72 strangers online to rape her after giving her sedatives. The man, a 71-year-old former employee of France’s electric utility company EDF, is on trial in the case, along with 50 other men suspected of raping an elderly woman. The accused has been identified as Dominique Pélicot.
According to the victim’s lawyer Antoine Camus, the victim was raped for over a decade and was unaware of the abuse because she was sedated.
🇫🇷 A #French pensioner went on trial Monday accused of recruiting dozens of strangers online to #rape his wife after he #drugged her into unconsciouness.
— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) September 2, 2024
Fifty other men are also on trial in #Avignon for allegedly participating in the abuse.@emeraldmaxwell has the story ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/H6Cq3euxrg
“She is completely determined to face them and her husband, with whom she lived for 50 years but whom she knew nothing about, as she discovered at 68,” Camus said.
On Monday, the 72-year-old victim, Gisèle, appeared in court in Avignon, France for the start of the trial. For the next four months during the trial, she will confront her accused rapists.
According to reports, the accused Dominique used to recruit men online to rape his wife after drugging her with sleeping medicines and anti-anxiety medications. Dominique is facing nine accusations, including several counts of rape with aggravating circumstances, drugging a victim in order to commit rape, and disseminating pictures related to the abuse.
The abuse started in 2011, when the couple was living near Paris, and continued until they moved to Mazan two years later. The man hired strangers to sexually assault his wife through a now-defunct website called coco.fr, according to chat records found by police.
According to court documents, police have identified at least 92 sexual assaults by 72 individuals ranging in age from 26 to 74. 50 people were identified, and the majority have been charged with aggravated or attempted rape and are on trial other than Gisèle’s husband Dominique.
Notably, in September 2020, police began investigating the woman’s husband, the primary suspect, when he was discovered discreetly recording under the skirts of three ladies in a shopping mall.
Upon searching his computer the police found thousands of videos and pictures of his wife. In the videos and images found on the accused’s computer, the victim was unconscious. The videoes recorded several instances of rape. The torture happened at their home in Mazan, a village near Avignon.
