Gisèle Pelicot taking stand to comment on mass rape trial evidence

ITV News Reporter Chloe Keedy is in Avignon, France, where Gisèle Pélicot's lawyer told her that 'she (Pelicot) is not the one who should be ashamed'

This article contains distressing details.

Gisèle Pélicot, the former wife of a French man accused of drugging and raping her, and inviting dozens of men to do the same, will be taking the stand to comment on the evidence given thus far.

The 72-year-old was unknowingly drugged and raped by her then husband, Dominique Pelicot, who allegedly also invited some 50 other men to rape her over a nine year period.

For almost a decade, Dominique Pelicot crushed sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication into his ex-wife's food and drink, while organising for strangers to come over to their home and sexually assault his wife after making contact in an online chatroom.

Dominique Pelicot has admitted to the charges levelled against him, telling the court "I am a rapist, like the other men in this room."

Pelicot reportedly filmed many of the alleged crimes against his wife. Video evidence of the alleged rapes was found after Dominique Pelicot was arrested in 2020 for filming up women's skirts in a supermarket.

Over the past two months of testimony the court has heard from dozens of accused men - most of which deny raping Ms Pelicot.

Many of the defendants told the court that they couldn’t have imagined that Dominique Pelicot was drugging his wife, and that they were told she was a willing participant acting out a kinky fantasy.

Dominique Pelicot denied this, telling the court his co-defendants knew exactly what the situation was.

A total of 50 men were identified by police from films labelled and stored by Dominique Pelicot. The men on trial face up to 20 years in prison.

Aged between 26 and 74, the accused include farm workers, a journalist, a nurse, a prison officer, a local councillor, a soldier and lorry drivers.

The trial will run until December 20.

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