Paris: Dominique Pelicot, the ex-husband of Gisele Pelicot, a victim in a notorious mass rape case in France, was found guilty by a court on Thursday for systematically drugging and assaulting her over a span of nearly a decade. The court also determined that he had invited numerous strangers into their home to assault Ms. Gisele while she was unconscious.
The panel of judges imposed a 20-year prison sentence on Dominique Pelicot. The massive rape case has horrified the globe and has made Gisele Pelicot an emblem of bravery and strength.
In announcing the sentence, the chief judge of the Avignon criminal court, Roger Arata, stated that Dominique Pelicot would not be eligible for parole until he had completed at least two-thirds of his term.
The court also found all 50 other defendants, aged between 27 and 74, guilty in the mass rape trial, with no one being acquitted. They received sentences ranging from 3 to 20 years, according to an AFP report. Prosecutors had requested prison terms of between 4 and 18 years for the remaining defendants, almost all of whom faced accusations of raping the unconscious Gisele Pelicot.
Seventy-two-year-old Dominique Pelicot admitted his guilt during the three-month trial and expressed remorse to his family.
However, most of the 50 defendants, whom Mr. Dominique had encountered online, denied the charges, claiming they believed they were participating in a consensual sexual game that the couple had orchestrated, asserting that it wasn’t rape if her husband had consented.
Gisele Pelicot’s Mass Rape Case
The mass rape trial of Gisele Pelicot has stunned France, with its repercussions felt far beyond the Avignon courthouse where judges reviewed more than three months of evidence.
Ms. Gisele, age 72, chose to give up her right to anonymity during the trial and insisted that disturbing videos of the repeated abuse, filmed by her former husband, be shown in court, stating that she hoped this would encourage other women to come forward.
“I’ve chosen not to feel ashamed; I’ve done nothing wrong,” she testified in October. “They are the ones who should feel shame,” she remarked, ridiculing any suggestion that she might have consented.
The trial has sparked protest rallies across France in support of Ms. Gisele and has incited a national examination of the issue, including discussions on the need to amend France’s rape legislation, which currently does not specify that consent is required for sexual activity.
