French mass rape victim's ex-husband says one of accused knew she was drugged

Paris [France], October 8 (HBTV): The same criminal investigator, the same medical expert, and the same perpetrator-turned-witness appeared once again before the appeals court, recounting how Gisèle Pelicot had been drugged by her then-husband, Dominique Pelicot, and subsequently raped by him and numerous other men at his invitation, The New York Times reported.

Gisèle Pelicot had allowed the mass rape trial centred on her ordeal to be made public last year, sparking a national debate in France and prompting significant legal and social reforms. On Tuesday, during the second day of the appeal by one of the convicted men, Husamettin Dogan, 44, the atmosphere in the courtroom seemed frozen in time. Dogan was among 51 men convicted in the original trial, though not all were found guilty of rape.

Aurore Perez, a feminist activist who attended most of last year’s trial in Avignon, was again among the supporters gathered outside the Court of Appeal in Nîmes. ‘I have the feeling I’m living the same nightmare,’ Perez said. ‘We are sick of hearing the same story.’

Most of the men convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was in a near-coma-like state received sentences ranging from three to fifteen years in prison. Dominique Pelicot is serving a 20-year sentence in isolation.

During Monday’s hearing, Dogan, who is married and the primary caregiver for his disabled son, told the court he had not intended to rape Gisèle Pelicot and only learned after his arrest that she had been drugged. However, Dominique Pelicot, wearing the same grey jacket he had worn during the first trial, contradicted him, claiming Dogan knew his wife was drugged.

Experts who interviewed Dogan, including psychiatrists, psychologists, and a police officer, testified that he claimed he had been invited for a threesome at the couple’s home in southern France. Dogan told them that Pelicot said his wife was pretending to sleep as part of their game, but that after about 30 minutes he realised something was wrong and fled.

Dogan was arrested two years later, in 2021, after a security guard caught Pelicot filming up women’s skirts in a grocery store in 2020. Dogan blamed Pelicot for the incident, claiming he followed his instructions, though investigators described him as evasive and vague.

According to police commissioner Jérémie Bosse Platière, videos and photos recorded by Pelicot showed Dogan staying at the couple’s house for at least four hours and assaulting Gisèle Pelicot eight times, including one rape that lasted around 30 minutes. ‘I’m convinced he was fully aware of it,’ Platière told the court.

Dominique Pelicot testified that he had met Dogan, as well as the other 50 men, through a now-defunct website and had spoken with them by phone. He claimed to have told Dogan explicitly that he had drugged his wife and instructed him on rules to avoid waking her during the assaults — such as avoiding tobacco and scents, washing hands in warm water, and ensuring no violence. ‘All these things left him in no doubt of her state,’ he said.

Gisèle Pelicot sat quietly in court, her younger son, Florian, by her side, occasionally squeezing her shoulder during distressing testimonies. Once a retired manager known only to her community, she has since become a symbol of resistance, inspiring books, plays, and documentaries.

Her case has prompted a national reckoning in France over misogyny, rape culture, and the phenomenon of chemical submission — the use of drugs to incapacitate victims. In its aftermath, the French government introduced new sex education curricula and proposed amendments to include consent in the penal code’s definition of rape.

‘Sociologically, it has changed things,’ said Celine Piques, president of the feminist group Dare Feminism. Outside the courthouse on Tuesday evening, demonstrators once again chanted the now-famous line from defence lawyer Antoine Camus: ‘Shame must change sides.’

(ANI)