The rapists all look ordinary. I shudder. Women ask: 'How many more were NOT charged?' SALLY WILLIAMS finds Avignon traumatised by its monstrous rape trial - and meets the women turning its brave victim into a feminist icon By Sally Williams In Avignon Published: 01:31, 24 September 2024 | Updated: 01:50, 24 September 2024 e-mail 1 View comments When Dominique Pelicot and his wife Gisele retired from their jobs as an electrician and a secretary, respectively, life settled into a new pattern.
Every few weeks or so, Gisele would travel from her home in Mazan, a quiet village in the hills of Provence, and stay in Paris to help look after her grandchildren. The couple have three children and five grandchildren. On her return, her husband – a man she once described as 'a great guy' – would often be particularly loving.
He'd collect her from the station in Avignon and drive her home, a round-trip of an hour, and cook her favourite food for dinner. Then he'd add crushed-up sleeping pills to the dish before serving, or save them for her hot chocolate. Once, he put them in a glass of beer but they turned it blue.
Gisele now knows why he threw it away. After she'd slipped into unconsciousness, her husband of over 40 years set to work. He'd invite a man he'd met on a chat-room into his home and film him raping his wife.
Gisele Pelicot acknowledges applause by members of the public as she arrives at the courthouse of Avignon during the trial of her former husband Dominique Pelicot .