Gisele Pelicot says she 'could have died' during rape ordeal

Gisele Pelicot gave her final statement in court this morning as a panel of judges prepare to give their verdict on a trial that has rocked France over the past 10 weeks.

Addressing the court in Avignon, and staring at the men who abused her over a decade, the French grandmother said she believed she was raped 'more than 200 times' and 'towards the end two or three times a week'.

'If this had continued, I could have died. They could have had this on their conscience … They could've all reported this. Not one did,' she said in her last opportunity to respond to everything that has been said since the trial began.

Her 'monster' husband, Dominique Pelicot, has admitted in court to inviting dozens of strangers to his house to rape his wife Gisele after he drugged her, many of whom now say they believe she was a consenting participant in a sex game.

Having bravely waived her anonymity, Ms Pelicot took the opportunity today to condemn what she called the 'macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape' after hearing 'a lot of whispered, unacceptable things' about the trial.

'I knew what I was going to be exposed to by refusing to go to a closed hearing,' she told the court in southeastern France this morning.

'Obviously, I recognise that I am feeling tired today. I have been omnipresent. I find it very difficult when people say that it is practically commonplace to have raped Madame Pelicot.'

The courtroom in southeast France was filled as Ms Pelicot reflected on the impact of a campaign of abuse spanning a decade, in which she was raped and abused by her husband and dozens of other men while unconscious.

The case, which has gripped France and sparked major demonstrations nationwide, is expected to conclude on December 20. 

Wearing a long-patterned skirt, tan bolero jacket, blouse and scarf, she held her head high as she took the stand in front of her disgraced husband Dominique and his 50 co-accused this morning. 

Ms Pelicot's final statements to the court on Tuesday gave the 72-year-old an opportunity to respond to claims made over the last 10 weeks.

She told how the case had left her 'tired' after ten weeks of intense scrutiny and publicity around the abuse.

'I knew what I was signing up for when I gave up the right to a closed trial,' Ms Pelicot said this morning. 'I admit that today I can feel the tiredness.' 

The case has gripped France and sparked mass protests in Ms Pelicot's name in recent weeks following her decision to share how her life was derailed by abuse.

'I am 72 now and I don't know how much time I have left,' she said in court this morning, adding that the years she thought she was ill 'felt like a death sentence'.

Dominique Pelicot admitted in 2020 to drugging his then-wife for almost a decade and recruiting some 50 men to abuse her in their home while she was unconscious.

He is also expected to speak today, ahead of a verdict from a panel of judges. 

Over more than two months the trial has been shown graphic images and footage of Madame Pelicot lying unconscious and snoring in her bed while she was abused by different men.

Today she asked the court: 'At what moment, when they entered this room, does Madame Pelicot give you consent?

'At what moment, when you see the inert body, do you not say to yourself that something is not normal happening without this room?

'For me, it is the trial of cowardice.'

The Defence also had an opportunity to question Ms Pelicot, as she continued to deny she was in any way complicit with the sex acts. 

Lawyer Nadia El Bouroumi pressed Ms Pelicot on her relationship with her ex-husband, asking why she had stopped short of using 'harsh words' against her husband, as she had other defendants.

Ms Pelicot was also asked why she did not attend court when her ex-husband was absent from court, and why she brought him warm clothes when he was in jail. 

She responded that she and her son had brought him clothes after he was arrested.

Ms Pelicot later said she remains a 'positive person' and tries to remember the best of her ex-husband, acknowledging his own difficult upbringing.

She said that she believes her ex-husband, who has implicated many of the other defendants, is being 'sincere'.

'And I feel rage against the defendants because nor for a second did they report things to the police,' she said.

'I am angry. Not a single man made a complaint. Not one.' 

She added: 'I believe I was raped more than 200 times. Towards the end I was being raped two or three times a week.

'I don't think my body could take much more. I thought I had developed Alzheimer's [disease].'

Dominique Pelicot, 71, has admitted in court to inviting dozens of strangers to his house to rape his wife Gisele after he drugged her. 

From the stand, Ms Pelicot reflected how she had had elements of what she called a 'normal life' - while recognising a decade had been taken from her, riddled with anxieties about her health.

She said she was unable to 'see the signs' that something was awry, waking up unaware that she had been drugged and assaulted in the mornings after.

'We had breakfast. We went for walks,' she told the court.

Some of the defendants in the case have claimed they believed Mr and Pelicot had arranged a 'sex game' of sorts, and that they believed she was consenting.

She reiterated on Tuesday that she was snoring in videos showing her abuse.

She went on to stress that 'I don't forgive him' [Mr Pelicot].

'His actions were unforgiveable. I was betrayed and fooled,' she said.

The children of Mr and Ms Pelicot stormed out of court as their mother was questioned about images found on his laptop.

The pictures depict their daughter Caroline partially naked. 

Mr Pelicot claimed in court yesterday that he was being blackmailed for the photos.

Asked about the photos, Ms Pelicot said she didn't 'know what to say about that'.

'He will have to answer that,' she said.

When Mr Pélicot was first arrested in September 2020, his devices were searched, and there were hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of women.

It was while in custody that Mr Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called 'Abuses'.

Police uncovered sickening pictures of Caroline Darian, and Mr Pélicot's two daughters-in-law, in a haul of thousands of images and videos.

In court this morning, Ms Pelicot refused to answer questions about her daughter, saying it 'isn't a family trial'. 

Oldest brother David, 50, urged his father to tell the court 'about what you did to my sister, who suffers every day and will suffer for the rest of her life, because I don't think you'll ever tell the truth'.

And he demanded that his father tell whether he had abused his grandchildren, whom he had allegedly asked to 'play doctor'

Pelicot replied he had done 'nothing'.

At one point, Dominique Pelicot interrupted his son's testimony, saying he wanted to apologise for what he had done.

But David Pelicot shouted him down, crying: 'Never!'

Younger brother Florian 38, added that his father was 'the devil himself'.

Their sister, who uses the pen name Caroline Darian, had already testified earlier in the trial and told the court again on Monday that she believed she had also been abused by her father.

Dominique Pelicot, principle defendant, is expected to give evidence later today.

The last of 50 defendants, named only as Philippe L., also gave evidence this morning, claiming he was told by Mr Pelicot and he and his wife were interested in meeting up for sex.

He allegedly told the defendant his wife would be asleep as part of a sex game, before telling Philippe L. to touch her sexually. 

The abuse only came to an end after Mr Pélicot was arrested for taking pictures up women's skirts at a local supermarket in November 2019.

Pélicot has been on remand since 2020, when he was first arrested on suspicion of gassing and then raping Ms Pélicot, while inviting men he contacted online to do the same. 

The trial, which Caroline Darian earlier described as 'France's worst sex for two decades, continues.