A victim of the man accused of drugging his now ex-wife and letting at least 50 men rape her while she was sedated has spoken about how her assault led to the discovery of his crimes.
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing
Dominique Pelicot, 71, was caught upskirting – filming under the clothing of several women – at a supermarket when Nathalie was warned by a security guard that the man had been following her.
He had used a camera hidden in a bag to take images of women in the shopping centre in Carpentras in southeastern France in September 2020.
Pelicot was confronted by the security guard, who seized his telephone, and Nathalie decided to file a complaint with the local police, which led to his arrest.
He was convicted and received a suspended sentence in 2021.
Pelicot had also been arrested for similar offences near Paris in 2010. Back then, he was fined €100 and kept it a secret from his now ex-wife, Gisele Pelicot.
But it was this decision by Nathalie that led investigators to discover the many videos of men abusing Ms Pelicot for a decade.
“For two years after that, I couldn’t wear a skirt to go shopping. I threw away the clothes I wore that day,” Nathalie said in an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV.
“Luckily we filed a complaint.”
Pelicot has admitted to drugging Ms Pelicot with sedatives and filming all of the assaults. He is now on trial in Avignon, along with some 50 other men who are accused of raping her.
After Pelicot was caught upskirting in the supermarket, police searched Pelicot’s house and electronic devices and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Ms Pelicot while she appeared to lie unconscious on their bed.
Ms Pelicot – who has waived her right to anonymity – contracted four sexually transmitted diseases throughout the years of multiple alleged rapes.
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Some of the defendants claim that they were part of an arranged scenario regarding an open marriage.
Of all the men accused, Ms Pelicot only recognises one – a man who had once come to their house to discuss cycling with her husband. She even bumped into him occasionally at the local bakery and exchanged greetings. She says she never imagined he had raped her.
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The trial has caught the world’s attention, with widespread protests for more severe punishment against sexual violence in France.
The trial is expected to continue until the end of December.
