Gisele Pelicot: Husband ‘destroyed’ and betrayed me, says woman at centre of France mass rape trial
The woman at the centre of a mass rape trial in France has said she cannot comprehend how the “perfect man” betrayed her – as she spoke in court for the first time.
Gisele Pelicot, 72, was sedated and raped by her former husband Dominique Pelicot.
For almost a decade, he crushed sleeping pills and other anti-anxiety drugs into her food and drink and allegedly recruited men online to rape her.
He’s already admitted his crimes, carried out between 2011 and 2020, and said he organised dozens of men to come to the house and rape her while she was comatose.
Supported by family, Ms Pelicot was applauded as she arrived at court on Wednesday.
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The woman at the centre of the France mass rape trial
She spoke directly to her ex-husband during the testimony
“I still don’t understand how this man who was the perfect man could do this, could destroy my life and betray me,” she said.
“I haven’t been able to look Dominique Pelicot in the face – but today I talk to him,” she said as part of a statement at the mid-point of the trial.
“We have 50 years together. I was a happy wife; we have three kids and seven grandkids.
“You were a good husband and a good man, and I trusted you. I never doubted you,” she said, beginning to cry.
But this good man, she told the court, was responsible for her being raped 100 times.
Ms Pelicot expressed anger and disbelief that he allegedly allowed people in their bedroom when he knew she was against swinging.
Demonstrations in support of Gisele Pelicot have been taking place across France. Pic: AP
When she became sick, he accompanied her to the gynaecologist but nobody suspected a thing, she told the court.
“My life has been turned upside down. You chose to do this,” she told him.
The judge asked about their mealtime routine, referring to evidence that Dominique Pelicot had slipped drugs into her food.
Gisele Pelicot said he had made lots of meals and often brought her ice cream afterwards.
“I thought ‘wow’, I’m lucky to have a husband who looks after me like this,” she told the court, explaining she was totally unaware the food was drugged.
She said she must have fallen asleep quickly, as she often woke up tired and in her pyjamas.
If she was raped in the day, she said her husband must have drugged her orange juice.
During questioning, she was asked if she thought her ex-husband had acted out of vengeance.
She said she had considered he might have been trying to punish her after she had a lover once in their relationship, around 30 years ago.
A sketch of Dominique Pelicot during the trial last month. Pic: Reuters
Ms Pelicot also said her former husband had talked about mistresses.
Forty-nine of the 51 men on trial, including Dominique Pelicot, are accused of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault.
A few admit the charges but say they did not intend to commit rape.
Most, however, deny the allegations, with some claiming they believed they were part of a game between the couple.
The men are aged between 26 and 74 and most lived in southeast France. Among them are a journalist, soldier and lorry driver.
They face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
‘I am a destroyed woman’
Gisele Pelicot said she had waived her right to anonymity and allowed videos of the attacks to be shown in court because “it makes people see the truth”.
During her statement, she also addressed the women who had given evidence in support of the co-defendants.
“When I hear mothers, sisters and partners talk about their men as normal… the profile of a rapist can be normal, can be a friend or a family man,” she said.
“Can you imagine what that does to me? That I was accused of pretending to be asleep and that I was aware of what was happening. It’s violent.”
She said she was a “destroyed woman” and was getting psychological help.
Gisele Pelicot pictured at court on 16 October. Pic: AP
Despite the trauma, she said she wanted to offer hope and strength to other victims: “I wanted that all victims of rape could say, ‘well if Gisele can do it, we can do it’.
“Because when we are raped, we have shame, but it’s not for us to be ashamed, but for those men,” she declared.
She said she was hurt when a defence lawyer asked her at what point the sexual activity was rape.
“They did this to an unconscious woman. Rape is a rape,” she said, becoming emotional.
Reacting to some defendants apologising, she said it would have been apparent when they touched her that she was not conscious.
“They are apologising to themselves, not to me,” she said.
‘He found sex elsewhere’
Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard from the partners of some of the men accused of raping the 72-year-old.
The wife of one said that because she refused him sex “he found it elsewhere”.
The 45-year-old described her husband Jean Luc-L as “a good husband and father”.
She said their life was normal, adding: “He never hit me. I often refused sex. He insisted but then if I refused, he would be unhappy and then leave”.
Recalling when police told her about the claims, the mother of two said: “I was in shock, but I think that because I refused him sex, as a man, that’s why he found it elsewhere.”
Hearing the comment, Ms Pelicot expressed surprise through her lawyer.
“I understand Gisele’s position,” the co-defendant’s wife said.
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The lawyer asked her about Ms Pelicot’s surprise at her comment: “It’s because I kept refusing and for a long time,” she replied, prompting audible gasps from some in court.
“I understand what my husband did to Gisele is unacceptable and I share her pain,” she said.
The woman said she had not left her husband and still visited him in prison.
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Another woman, the ex-partner of Florian R, described him as “a normal guy”.
“We were good, we were normal,” she said, explaining they have children but split up in 2019.
The 37-year-old said their sex life had been “normal”, “basic” and did not involve fantasies.
Talking about when she heard he was being investigated, she said: “Initially I thought he was in trouble with the police because he was with a girl who I thought was too young… she was 14 years old.”
She said they still talked on the phone due to their children, who she had taken to visit him in jail.
The trial in Avignon is expected to continue until the end of the year.
An Afghan man who worked for the British military has told Sky News he feels betrayed and has “completely lost (his) mind” after his identity was part of a massive data breach.
He told The World with Yalda Hakim about the moment he discovered he was among thousands of Afghans whose personal details were revealed, putting him at risk of reprisals from the Taliban.
The man, who spoke anonymously to Sky News from Afghanistan, says he worked with British forces for more than 10 years.
But now, he regrets working alongside those troops, who were first deployed to Afghanistan in 2001.
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Afghans being relocated after data breach
“I have done everything for the British forces … I regret that – why (did) I put my family in danger because of that? Is this is justice?
“We work for them, for [the] British, we help them. So now we are left behind, right now. And from today, I don’t know about my future.”
He described receiving an email warning him that his details had been revealed.
He said: “When I saw this one story… I completely lost my mind. I just thought… about my future… my family’s.
“I’ve got two kids. All my family are… in danger. Right now… I’m just completely lost.”
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The mistake by the Ministry of Defence in early 2022 ranks among the worst security breaches in modern British history because of the cost and risk posed to the lives of thousands of Afghans.
On Tuesday, a court order – preventing the media reporting details of a secret relocation programme – was lifted.
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Reuters file pic
Defence Secretary John Healey said about 6,900 Afghans and their family members have been relocated or were on their way to the UK under the previously secret scheme.
He said no one else from Afghanistan would be offered asylum, after a government review found little evidence of intent from the Taliban to seek retribution.
But the anonymous Afghan man who spoke to Sky News disputed this. He claimed the Taliban, who returned to power in 2021, were actively seeking people who worked with British forces.
“My family is finished,” he said. “I request… kindly request from the British government… the King… please evacuate us.
“Maybe tomorrow we will not be anymore. Please, please help us.”
World
Ross Edgley: The British ‘Thor’ swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland – and what happened when he met killer whales
Towering waves, freezing temperatures and even some inquisitive killer whales. Iceland is doing its best to defeat Ross Edgley.
Inspired by “Thor”, the British extreme athlete is in the middle of a challenge worthy of the Norse god – spending four months swimming 1,000 miles around the whole of Iceland in the name of science.
And while it comes with its challenges – a video of parts of his tongue falling off because of the salty sea water went viral – there have also been moments of beauty in the rugged Viking landscape.
“We’re on the northern coast right now,” Ross tells Sky News as he prepares to get back in the water.
“There’s nothing to stop the wind coming from the Arctic, and it’s just smashing into the north of Iceland. We’re miles out, just like a bobbing cork getting absolutely battered.”
Ross is making his way around Iceland clockwise after setting off from Reykjavik
Ross, from Cheshire, is no stranger to endurance events like this. In 2018, he swam nearly 1,800 miles around the coast of Great Britain and earned a Guinness World Record for swimming 317 miles along the Yukon River in Canada.
But the punishing cold as 39-year-old Ross swims 30km (18 miles) a day around Iceland is something else.
“The body just takes a consistent battering,” he says, characteristically cheery and enthusiastic despite everything.
“You just do your best to keep it in some sort of shape, controlling the inevitable breakdown of your body, hoping that you get back into Reykjavik.”
Some of the injuries Ross has picked up so far, and the salt water hinders healing
He’s eating between 10,000 and 15,000 calories a day – with pasta and his new favourite Icelandic liquorice as menu staples – just to keep going.
“You’re basically running through all of that food – I’m constantly saying it’s basically just an eating competition with a bit of swimming thrown in,” he chuckles. “But that’s genuinely what it is.”
His average day – storms permitting – sees Ross getting up and swimming for six hours, resting for six hours, and then getting back in the water to swim another six hours.
“You just do that on repeat. It’s really simple in theory, but brutal in reality.”
Ross is covering about 18 miles (30km) a day
To get ready for the cool Icelandic waters, Ross took inspiration from animals that have made it their home for thousands of years: whales and seals.
“I ended up putting on about 10-15 kilos of just pure fat. A bit of muscle as well but a lot of fat.
“When you look at what sort of animals survive in Iceland, there’s that idea of sea blubber. You want insulation, you want body fat.”
Perhaps unlike a seal however, Ross takes great care to defend the reputation of the killer whales that hunt in Icelandic seas.
“We’ve seen a lot, pods of them have come by and checked me out, wondering what the strange Englishman was doing in Icelandic waters, and then we went our separate ways.
“I want to combat some of the bad PR that orcas might have because there’s never been a verified case of an orca attacking a human in the wild. It just doesn’t exist.
“They’re amazing animals that deserve our respect and shouldn’t be feared.”
Ross back on board his support boat after swimming
There’s also a big scientific focus for Ross’s challenge as well.
“If we achieve this, it will achieve so much in terms of sports science – the first person to swim around Iceland. But that wasn’t a big enough reason to do it.”
Ross spoke to scientists who said that if he was “crazy enough” to want to do the swim, he would be able to collect daily samples of environmental DNA in the water, as well as levels of microplastics.
“By the end we’re just going to have this map of biodiversity around the whole coast of Iceland in a level of detail we’ve never really seen before. It’s going to be so comprehensive.
“So I think as the legacy of this swim, records and everything will be nice, but I actually think the science and the research that we contribute and give back will be unbelievable and actually make the chafing and losing parts of my tongue worth it.”
The swim is being paid for by a mix of sponsorships and self-funding.
Ross Edgley is swimming 1,000 miles around Iceland. Pic: James Appleton/BMW
Ross says he was inspired to take on the challenge in part by actor Chris Hemsworth and his role as the Norse god Thor, joking that the feat would be the closest thing to swimming around Asgard, the realm of the deities from ancient Scandinavia.
As he makes his way around the island, he gets to meet a local community where stories of Nordic gods are still an important part of life.
“It’s amazing, we’re just hearing these stories of Nordic folklore, sagas written about every single fjord we go around. It’s unbelievable.”
Ross and his team rest on land between swims
Fresh off one marathon swimming session, Ross and his team jumped into action to help the local community rescue 30 stranded whales.
“The team were absolutely exhausted… but having rescued the whales was the most rewarding moment as well.”
A moment of downtime on the boat. Pic: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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Ross set off on his swimming quest on 17 May, and it’s likely going to be a couple more months before he arrives back in Reykjavik.
He suggested that September is the goal, but added: “But you make plans and Iceland laughs at them.”
Picture credits: Ross Edgley/YouTube
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