One of the 50 men on trial in Avignon in the case of Dominique Pélicot – who drugged his wife, Gisèle, with anxiolytics so that other men could rape her while she was unconscious – is accused of repeating the same acts. modus operandi with his own partner.
“It’s unforgivable,” stressed the daughter of the accused, Jean-Pierre M., 63, who is suspected of also giving anxiolytics to his partner and then having sexual relations with her several times in the company of Dominique Pélicot, before the Vaucluse criminal court on Wednesday.
The daughter, who discovered everything when her father was arrested, said she did not understand anything and was convinced that her father would not have committed these acts with his own wife if he had not met Pélicot, who contacted the other rapists via the Internet. He nevertheless said that “what he is accused of is very serious, inexcusable” and that he hopes to have “answers” during this process, which began on September 2 and should conclude before Christmas.
Jean Pierre M. admitted at the beginning of the trial to the facts he is accused of and, according to one of the police officers in charge of the investigation, he believes he deserves life in prison. The judges must determine their responsibility in this case which revolves around Dominique Pélicot and the files seized from him in September 2020 when he was arrested for recording the skirts of certain women in a supermarket in the city of Carpentras.
In these files were hundreds of photos and videos taken by Pélicot in which the woman who was still his drugged wife appeared, while she was subjected to sexual abuse by dozens of men, among whom were identified the 50 people sitting in the room. The investigators counted 92 rapes between July 2011 and October 2020, perpetrated by more than 80 men.
Dominique Pélicot has not yet testified due to health reasons and was also absent from the hearing on Wednesday, after making a brief appearance limping and using a cane, and it remains to be seen whether he will finally be able to testify on Thursday, the day on which the declaration hearing initially scheduled for Tuesday was postponed.
His lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, told the press that if he testified this Thursday, he would only do so on “the facts he is accused of” and in which Pélicot is involved. “Anything that touches on Dominique Pélicot’s personality will not be discussed tomorrow,” the lawyer said, given the expectations raised by the case.
