Dominique Pelicot convicted of repeatedly drugging and enlisting strangers to rape his wife reportedly also gave them a list of rules to follow. The 71-year-old slipped Lorazepam into his wife, Gisele Pélicot’s food to knock her out and invited strangers he met online to assault her. In historic sentencing, a French Court convicted 50 out of 51 accused of aggravated rape or aggravated sexual assault. Dominique Pelicot received 20 years in jail.
‘Strict’ list of rules
According to the Sun, the husband had rules that the men needed to follow to make sure not to wake up Gisele or raise suspicion while they abused her.
The men were asked not to wear aftershaves or to have cigarette odours, and they were also asked to clip their nails, among other disturbing rules.
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The attackers were also instructed to park their cars away from the house and undress in the kitchen to avoid accidentally leaving clothes in the bedroom.
Reportedly, the husband also made the attackers wash their cold hands in warm water to avoid waking Gisele during the assaults.
How were the horrific crimes discovered?
{{/usCountry}}Reportedly, the husband also made the attackers wash their cold hands in warm water to avoid waking Gisele during the assaults.
How were the horrific crimes discovered?
{{/usCountry}}The sexual assault started back in 2011 and lasted for about ten years. The crimes came to light when police arrested the husband for filming under women’s skirts in 2020. During their investigation, the authorities found evidence of rape and made the wife aware of the abuse she had endured for a decade.
Besides Dominique, several other men were identified, and most of them were charged with either aggravated or attempted rape.
According to the prosecutors, the husband also took part in the rapes and encouraged other men to use “degrading language”. He also filmed the heinous acts. Reportedly, no money exchanged hands.
The rapists came from different age groups, professions and backgrounds - including a company boss, a journalist, a fire brigade officer and a forklift driver. While some of them are married, others are single or divorced. A few are also family men.
A voice of bravery:
The victim, 72-year-old Gisele Pelicot, waived her legal right to anonymity. Reportedly, she did this "to raise awareness as widely as possible".
"She could have opted for a closed trial, but that's what her attackers would have wanted. For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over 10 years," Gisele's lawyer, Antoine Camus told the outlet. He reminded that she has "no recollection" of the “horrible ordeal” and only discovered it in 2020.
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“In terms of her mood, there is already a sense of relief that the trial is public, and that she won't be in court alone over four months with her attackers. So that provides some comfort. She's also preparing herself, she knows her words will be highly scrutinised, and will lead to questioning by the defence. So today she's getting ready, she wants to express herself, and she will take the time to do so when it is asked of her and we expect that to happen quite rapidly this week,” another lawyer of hers stated.
According to the BBC, Gisele Pelicot rested her head on the courtroom wall while listening to the sentencing of her rapists. Though she didn't express much emotion, she was reportedly dissatisfied with sentencing of some of her rapists.