Dominique Pelicot, admitted to drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade, begging his family’s forgiveness, as he told a French court on Tuesday: “I am a rapist.”
Pelicot’s hearing, the centerpiece of one of France’s most spectacular criminal trials in recent history, had to be pushed back last week due to his bad health.
He faces multiple charges including rape, gang rape and privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images.
Pelicot appeared in court with a cane on Tuesday morningand spoke to the judge through a microphone. His lawyer said he took heavy medication and was allowed to take breaks to lie down throughout the day.
“I am a rapist just like all the others in this room,” he said, adding, “I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable.”
The case has shocked the country and triggered nationwide protests in support of his wife Gisele and against male sexual violence.
Dominique Pelicot told the courtroom he had a difficult upbringing and had himself been a victim of rape. At times he cried, according to French media.
Gisele Pelicot was in the courtroom during his appearance on the stand and was greeted with applause by spectators when she left during breaks.
She had insisted on a public trial to expose her husband and the other men accused of raping her, making her a symbol of the struggle against sexual violence in France.
“For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts of rape,” she said.
Gisele Pelicot began divorce proceedings after meeting with investigators over the case.
When asked by one of the lawyers if he thinks he could win back his former partner, Pelicot said: “It is important to have hope. Otherwise, it’s over … I was traumatized. It’s in part thanks to her that I forgot these bad moments in my life.”
Prosecutors have said Dominique Pelicot, who was initially arrested after filming up a woman’s skirt in a supermarket, offered sex with his wife on a website called Coco and filmed the abuse.
