Man drugged her so others would rape her, woman reveals how her world came crashing down when she learned the truth

A French woman who was raped by more than 80 unknown men over a decade after being drugged by her husband has told a court of her horror when she learned how she had been abused, the BBC reports.

Gisèle Pélicot, who is now 72, gave evidence on the third day of the trial in Avignon, southeastern France. Court documents show that her 71-year-old husband, Dominique Pélicot, admitted to police that he enjoyed watching other men have sex with his unconscious wife.

Many of the defendants in the case dispute the rape charge, claiming they thought they were participating in consensual sex play. But Gisèle Pélicot told the court that she was "never an accomplice" in the sexual acts. This is a case that has shocked France, especially since the trial is taking place publicly.

Gisèle waived her right to anonymity to shift the "shame" onto the accused. She said she was speaking for "every woman who has been unknowingly drugged... so that no woman suffers."

Gisèle Pélicot said police saved her life when they investigated her husband Dominique Pélicot's computer in November 2020 after a security guard caught him filming up women's skirts in a supermarket near their home in a village in southern France.

Police said they found a file labeled "abuse" on a USB stick connected to his computer that contained 20,000 images and footage of his wife being raped almost 100 times.

Recounting the moment in November 2020 when police first showed her images of a decade of sexual abuse orchestrated by her husband, Pélicot, who had been drugged into unconsciousness, told the court: “My world fell apart. For me, everything was falling apart. Everything I had built over 50 years.”

She said she barely recognized herself in the images, saying she was motionless.

"I was sacrificed on the altar of vice. I was considered a rag doll, a garbage bag. When you see that woman drugged, abused, a person dead in bed - of course the body is not cold, it is warm , but it's like I'm dead", declared Gisèle Pélicot.

"The police officer asked me about my sex life," she told the court. “I told him that I had never practiced partner swapping or threesomes. I said I was a woman with a man. But after an hour the officer said, "I'm going to tell you some things you won't find pleasant." He opened a folder and showed me a picture. "I didn't recognize either the man or the woman sleeping in the bed. The officer asked, 'Ma'am, is this your bed and nightstand?'

"It was difficult to distinguish myself dressed in an unfamiliar way. Then he showed me a second picture and a third. I asked him to stop. It was unbearable. I was in my bed and a man was raping me. My world was destroyed," she declared.

Gisèle said that until then their marriage had been generally happy and she and her husband had overcome a number of financial and health difficulties.

"Everything we had built together was gone. Our three children, seven grandchildren. We used to be an ideal couple. I just wanted to disappear. But I had to tell my children that their father was under arrest. I asked the son-in-law to stand by my daughter when I told him that her father had raped me and raped others.

"She let out a scream, the sound of which is still etched in my mind."

In the coming days, the court will hear more evidence from the investigation into how Dominique allegedly contacted men through sex websites and invited them to his suburban home in Mazan, a town north-east of Avignon.

Police say the men were given strict instructions. They had to park some distance from the house to avoid attracting attention and wait up to an hour for the sleeping pills he had given his wife to take effect.

Once inside the house, the men were told to undress in the kitchen. Tobacco and perfume were not allowed in case they woke Gisèle. Condoms were not required.

Police say they have evidence of around 200 rapes committed between 2011 and 2020, initially at their home outside Paris but mostly in Mazan, where they moved in 2013.

Investigators claim that slightly more than half of the rapes were committed by her husband. Most of the other men lived only a few kilometers away.

Asked by the judge on Thursday if she knew any of the accused, Gisèle said she only knew one.

"He was our neighbor. He came to check our bikes. I saw it in the bakery. He was always kind. I had no idea he was going to come and rape me."

Gisèle was then reminded by the judge that in order to respect the presumption of innocence, it had been agreed in court not to use the word rape, but "sex scene".

She replied: “I think they should know the facts. When I think about what they have done, I am filled with disgust. They should at least have the responsibility to recognize what they have done", she said.

After the truth came out, Gisèle discovered that she was a carrier of four sexually transmitted diseases.

"I had no sympathy from any of the accused. One who was HIV positive came six times. Not once did my husband express concern about my health," she said, who is now in the process of divorcing him.