Husband under suspicion for drugging and raping his wife publicly confirms his innocence
In the latest developments in the high-profile case of Dominique Pelicot, a French man accused of drugging and raping his wife Gisèle Pelicot over nearly a decade, new details have emerged.
Master Nathalie Lepert-de-Courville, the lawyer for Dominique, has spoken out for the first time in this case. She claims that Dominique and his wife had a practice involving voyeurism and inviting men to their home from a dating site. However, according to the plaintiff's lawyer, Gisèle never consented to the swingers' nights or the sexual acts that followed.
The lawyer for the husband states that the medications found at his client's home are for his back pain. On that night, Dominique was not participating in the sexual relations, but was watching, according to his lawyer. However, the wife's lawyer claims that Gisèle was not consenting because her husband would drink in the evenings before proposing to men to come to their home.
The latest revelations show that Dominique systematically drugged Gisèle with a combination of lorazepam (Temesta) and sleeping pills to render her unconscious for hours. He would covertly administer these drugs by crushing them and mixing them into her favourite wine or sorbet. Dominique obtained hundreds of Temesta tablets from his doctor by complaining of anxiety unrelated to his wife, and he perfected the dosage to keep her unconscious for about seven hours at a time.
Evidence and court findings make clear that the abuse was non-consensual, and Gisèle was unaware of what was happening due to the drug sedation. Dominique shared videos and photos documenting over 200 rapes and sexual assaults, meticulously organizing them by date, time, and participants, including the names of dozens of men who he invited to assault Gisèle while she was unconscious at their home. He communicated with these men primarily through an unmoderated online forum called à son insu (“without her knowledge”) hosted on the chat platform Coco, where he solicited and coordinated the attacks.
The trial ended with Dominique receiving a 20-year prison sentence and 50 other men convicted for their roles in the assaults. Gisèle Pelicot has since become a symbol of women's rights and survivor courage in France, receiving the country's highest civilian honour, the Legion of Honor, in recognition of her public testimony against Dominique and the perpetrators.
On July 31, a man came to the client's home at Dominique's invitation, followed by a second man. The police were alerted by one of the men present that night and intervened at the couple's home. Additional blood tests are underway to determine if other substances besides alcohol were administered to Gisèle.
According to ICI Bourgogne, the wife, Gisèle, remembers that night and other similar incidents. The husband was charged and placed in provisional detention on the evening of August 2. These tests can take up to a month to complete. The latest developments in this case continue to highlight the importance of consent and the impact of non-consensual acts on victims.
In the ongoing saga of the Dominique Pelicot case, it's worth noting that the defendants involved in the sexual assaults were found to have used an unmoderated online forum called à son insu for coordinating the attacks. The police, in response to a tip, recently intervened at the couple's home when a man arrived there at Dominique's invitation, potentially implicating him in further crimes. Moreover, general news outlets report that the wife, Gisèle, has come forward to share her memories of such incidents. The health-and-wellness aspect of this story unfolds as additional blood tests are underway to determine if substances other than alcohol were administered to Gisèle. Amidst these developments, the case underscores the significance of crime-and-justice issues, particularly the importance of consent in sexual relations.
