The trial began on Monday for a French pensioner accused of recruiting more than 50 strangers online to rape his wife after he drugged her into unconsciousness.
In a case that has appalled France, the main suspect Dominique Pélicot, 71, stood in the dock alongside 50 other men in the southern city of Avignon.
They are accused of raping Gisèle Pélicot who, according to her lawyers, was so heavily sedated that she was not aware of the 10 years of abuse at the couple’s large home in Provence.
“He disgusts me, I feel dirty, soiled, betrayed. It’s a tsunami, I’ve been hit by a high-speed train,” she told the judge.
Protesters from two feminist groups, Les Amazones d’Avignon and Osez le féminisme 84, demonstrated outside the courthouse, chanting: “Rapists, we see you, victims, we believe you.”
Police began to investigate Pélicot in September 2020 when he was caught by a security guard secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping centre.
Roger Arata, presiding, announced that all hearings would be public, granting Ms Pélicot her wish for “complete publicity until the end”.
03:59 PM BST
That’s all for today
Our live coverage has ended. We will be back soon with more updates from the trial.
03:57 PM BST
Trial ends for day
The trial has ended for the day.
On Tuesday, the presiding judge will read out her summary of the 400 page-long indictment.
The investigators will be interviewed on Wednesday and Gisèle Pélicot and other family members starting on Thursday.
03:52 PM BST
Pictured: Gisèle Pélicot arrives at the court house
Gisèle Pélicot arrived at the courthouse on Monday for the trial of Dominique Pélicot and 50 other men. Ms Pélicot has expressed a wish for for “complete publicity” of the trial until the end.
03:42 PM BST
Gisèle Pélicot is ‘dreading trial, but relieved’
Stephane Babonneau, one of Gisèle Pélicot’s lawyers, said: “She was dreading this moment but is relieved that the hearing is open and that she will not be locked up for four months with her assailants.
“She wants to raise awareness as widely as possible about date rape drugs so that this never happens again.”
03:18 PM BST
Suspect admits giving wife powerful tranquilisers
Dominique Pélicot, the main suspect who is pleading guilty, admitted to investigators that he gave his wife powerful tranquillisers, especially Temesta, an anxiety-reducing drug.
The pills were allegedly crushed up into Gisèle Pélicot’s food and drink to put her to sleep before he and others raped her, police said.
03:13 PM BST
Gisèle Pélicot refused closed-door trial ‘as that’s what her attackers wanted’
Gisèle Pélicot, the wife of the suspect, did not want a closed door trial because “that’s what her attackers would have wanted”, according to Antoine Camus, her lawyer.
The trial will nonetheless be “a horrible ordeal” for her, said Mr Camus.
“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over 10 years,” he told AFP, adding that his client had “no recollection” of the abuse that she discovered only in 2020.
02:29 PM BST
Children hold mother’s hands in ‘united front’
The children of Dominique Pélicot have put up a “united front” in their father’s trial, according to reports.
Le Figaro’s Margaux d’Adhémar wrote: “The family, united and dignified, sat on the prosecution bench. Heads held high. They all held each other by the arms, the hands, close to each other. A united front, solid, anchored.”
At the heart of the case is the issue of date rape drugs, namely any substances that incapacitate another person and render that person vulnerable to sexual assault, including rape.
One of Pélicot’s daughters, Caroline Darian, who has written a book based on her father’s crimes, is a leading proponent of raising awareness over such substances that lead to “chemical submission”.
02:08 PM BST
Suspect ‘ashamed’ of actions
Speaking to the press on Monday morning, Béatrice Zavarro, Pélicot’s lawyer, said her client felt huge remorse.
“He is ashamed of what he has done, it’s unforgivable”, she told reporters, adding that his criminal acts were part of “a form of addiction”. “My client’s line of conduct is that he recognises what he has done and that has not been in dispute one iota since the beginning,” she said.
Many defendants maintain that they believed they were taking part in the consensual fantasies of a libertine couple.
However, Pélicot told judges that “everyone knew” that his wife was drugged and unconscious. The investigating magistrate also argued that “each individual had free will” and could have “left the premises”.
Only two people contacted via the website coco.gg, used to recruit strangers to have intercourse with his wife, pulled out of coming to the couple’s home but neither filed a complaint to police.
01:53 PM BST
Tobacco and perfume ‘banned’ to avoid strong smells that might awaken wife
Dominique Pélicot is alleged to have banned the other men from using tobacco or perfume to prevent strong smells from waking his wife while she was being abused.
The men are also accused of washing their hands in hot water to avoid sudden change of temperature, undress in the kitchen to avoid leaving any clothes in the bedroom, park near a school and walk in the dark to the house to avoid arousing neighbours’ suspicions.
01:20 PM BST
Main suspect pictured
Dominique Pélicot, 71, stands accused of recruiting more than 50 strangers online to rape his wife in their Provence home.
01:14 PM BST
Welcome to the blog
Welcome to The Telegraph’s live coverage of Dominique Pélicot’s trial in Avignon.
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