Dominique Pélicot, the French man on trial for drugging his wife and allowing dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious, admitted in court that he is a rapist along with the other defendants involved in the case.
“I am a rapist, like everyone else in this room. They cannot say otherwise,” Pélicot declared during his first testimony in court. The statement directly contradicted the testimony of many of the 50 men accused, who previously claimed they were unaware that the wife had been drugged and had not consented to the sexual acts.
Investigators revealed that Pélicot regularly drugged his wife, Gisèle Pélicot, with anti-anxiety medication without her knowledge. While she was unconscious, she was raped at least 92 times by 72 men between 2011 and 2020. Of those, 51 individuals have been identified and charged in connection with the assaults. According to The Washington Post, Pélicot instructed the men to avoid wearing perfume or smoking to ensure his wife remained unconscious during the rapes.
Prosecutors have charged 49 men with rape, one with attempted rape, and one with sexual assault. Most of the defendants face sentences of up to 20 years in prison, according to Le Monde. Some of the accused have contested the charges, arguing they believed the acts were consensual within the couple.
Despite his admission, Pélicot claimed he did not force the men to participate.
“They came looking for me themselves. They asked me, I said yes. I didn’t put handcuffs on anyone to force them to come,” he testified.
Gisèle Pélicot only became aware of her husband's actions in 2020 after police caught him filming up women's skirts. Upon searching his electronic device, authorities discovered photos and videos documenting the assaults on his wife.
During her testimony, Gisèle Pélicot described the horror of realizing what had been done to her.
“When you see this woman, drugged, mistreated, dead on a bed — of course the body is not cold, it is warm, but I am like dead,” she told judges in court earlier this month. “These men are defiling me, taking advantage of me.”
