2024-09-17 22:19:40
The victim in the case, Gisèle Pelicot, asked that the hearings be public to raise awareness about this type of crime, arguing that “shame must change sides.”
This week, a trial began that has shaken France and the world, as it is one of the cases in which the largest number of sexual assaults have been alleged in the country’s history. Since Monday, a 71-year-old retired businessman has been on trial in the courts of Avignon in Franceafter he was accused of drugging his wife with the purpose of being raped by strangers while filming for record keeping.
This practice, Dominique Pelicot She would have carried out for nearly a decade against the woman Gisèle Pelicot, who was raped for approximately 72 men, aged between 21 and 68. In this sense, the man admitted that He mixed sleeping pills and ground tranquilizers into the food and drink from his now ex-wife.
Considering the above, the Avignon court is currently prosecuting 51 accusedamong which They include a journalist, a firefighter and a gendarme, as well as retirees and students.including the victim’s ex-husband.
Victim asked for the trial to be public
Against this backdrop, the victim arrived at the court surrounded by her lawyers and her three children for the start of the legal process, which will extend until December 20. The woman will hear the testimony of the 51 men, of whom Only 18 are in preventive detention.
Now, the woman will have to relive the rapes she suffered for nearly nine years. Such trials are normally held privately, however, Gisele Pelicot requested that the hearings be public.
“This is also a way of saying that this challenge can be overcome, even if today it is only the beginning, that it must be made known and that Shame must change sides”said his lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau.
He added: “I want to raise awareness, as widely as possible, about what happened to her so that events like this never happen again.”