- Gisele Pelicot feared she was suffering from Alzheimer’s or a serious illness but the truth was terrifying.
- Her husband, Dominique, of 50 years had been drugging and abusing her for years.
- Worse still he invited dozens of men to rape her.
- In the biggest rape trials in France’s history Gisele took her power back and jailed him .
- She became global symbol of bravery, showing her abusers and the world her incredible resilience
Warning: The cotents of this article contain graphic content
As Dominique Pelicot placed a bowl of raspberry ice-cream in front of his wife, Gisele Pelicot, in bed, she smiled.
‘How lucky am I? You’re a darling. You really look after me,’ Gisele said.
It was her favourite dessert.
The pair had been married for 50 years and resided in the sleepy area of Mazan, near Avignon, France, after raising their family and working for years in their respective fields as a logistics manager and electrician.
Dominique adored cycling, and taking his son and grandson to football matches.
He was always cooking dinner and loved looking after his wife.
But age seemed to be taking its toll on Gisele, then 68.
She was terrified to find her memory was in tatters, and she battled through mental fog every day.
It was so bad she’d convinced herself she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
But it wasn’t just Gisele’s mind that worried her. Sometimes she woke with a strange feeling as if her waters had broken, like when you give birth.
Deeply concerned about her health, Gisele booked check-ups with doctor after doctor.
Worried, her husband insisted on accompanying her to every appointment.
But all the tests came back clear.
One day looking at a new pair of pants, Gisele noticed a spot of bleach. Mystified at how it had got there, she joked to Dominique, ‘You’re not drugging me are you?’
When he burst into tears and asked how she could accuse him of such a wicked thing, she never mentioned it again.
But one weekend in September 2020, everything changed when Dominique was arrested by police. While Gisele was away visiting their grandchildren, Dominique had been caught by a security guard filming up the skirts of women at a local supermarket.
Dominique apologised and tried to brush it off as nothing, claiming he’d had the ‘urge’ because his wife was away.
But police had a gut feeling he was hiding something more sinister. They confiscated his two phones and searched devices in his home.
The thousands of photos and videos they discovered on his phones, computer and hard drives were depraved beyond belief. Many of the vile images were stored in a folder named Abuse.
‘The …photos and videos they discovered on his phones, computer and hard drives were depraved beyond belief.’
Dominique had meticulously archived sadistic footage of himself along with other men raping and sexually assaulting a woman with red hair.
Terrifyingly the woman appeared completely asleep.
In the background were family photographs on the chest of drawers and burgundy wallpaper, clearly identifying the Pelicots’ home.
There was no doubt the woman in the recordings was none other than Dominique’s wife Gisele.
When police contacted her, she was distraught.
The man she had shared her life with for 50 years had betrayed her in the most heinous way.
It defied belief.
Investigations revealed that during a horrific nine year period from 2011 to 2020, Dominique crushed powerful sedatives and laced his unsuspecting wife’s mashed potato, ice-cream, coffee and beer to render her unconscious.
‘He recruited men online to have their way with Gisele while she was in a comatose state.’
Then he recruited men online to have their way with Gisele while she was in a comatose state.
Dominique set stringent rules urging the men not to smoke or drink so they left no trace, to warm their hands on the radiator, and wash their hands beforehand, because he couldn’t stand dirty fingernails on his wife.
He’d perfected the sedative dose of sleeping tablets and anxiety medication he’d received from his doctor, ensuring Gisele was heavily drugged for seven hours, often allowing him and multiple men to rape her.
He’d also set up secret cameras to capture the abuse. In the footage, some men even gave victory or thumbs up signs to the camera.
No day was sacred – attacks took place on her birthday, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve… There were more than 200 times that had been recorded.
Afterwards Dominique washed Gisele in the bath and redressed her in her pyjamas. She would wake blissfully unaware of the sadistic abuse she’d endured.
Unthinkably, more revelations of depravity were to come.
Police also discovered that Dominique filmed his sons’ wives in their own bathrooms or rooms in his home, including when one was pregnant with twins, and he then shared naked photographs of them online.
Dominique also had photos of his daughter Caroline lying unconscious on a bed wearing just a T-shirt and underwear.
‘Caroline wondered whether her father had assaulted her too.’
Caroline wondered whether her father had assaulted her too, but with no evidence the police’s hands were tied.
A broken and destroyed Gisele divorced her husband. And when the court case was heard in September 2024, Gisele bravely waived her right to anonymity.
‘Victims of rape are often ashamed, but it’s not on us to have shame. It’s on them,’ she said defiantly.
Although she’d reverted back to her maiden name, she chose to keep her married name for the case, so her grandchildren could be proud of their name and their grandmother.
Throughout the trial, Gisele bravely sat and faced her husband and 50 other men who were charged with rape, most of who lived in a 64km radius of her house.
The defendants, aged between 26 and 74, came from all walks of life – truck drivers, a soldier, firefighter, security guard, nurse, journalist, and more – many had families.
Gisele’s children Florian, 38, Caroline, 45, and David, 50, joined her.
Dominique Pelicot admitted the charges, telling the court, ‘I am a rapist.’
‘I’ve always tried to lift you higher, towards the light. You chose the darkest depths of human nature.’
He confessed that he had ‘a dark side’ and had sexual fantasies that Gisele declined. So he took to drugging his wife and advertising online for scores of men to come and rape her.
Some defendants claimed they thought Gisele was pretending to be asleep, while others believed it wasn’t rape if her husband had consented on behalf of his wife.
Gisele told her ex-husband in court, ‘I’ve always tried to lift you higher, towards the light. You chose the darkest depths of human nature.’
In December 2024, Dominique Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his wife and inviting others to assault her.
Forty-seven of the defendants were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault. The men were sentenced to between three and 15 years in jail. Seventeen of these men have since appealed their convictions.
Far from being just a victim, Gisele became a global symbol of bravery, showing her abusers and the world her incredible resilience. As the biggest rape case in France’s history ended, Gisele was met by applause outside the court, and banners emblazoned with, Thank you Gisele.
‘I wanted all woman victims of rape…to say “If Madame Pelicot did it, we can do it too”.’
She’d said in court, ‘The profile of a rapist is not someone met in a car park late at night. A rapist can also be in the family, among our friends.’
In January this year Gisele’s daughter Caroline Darian published her book ‘I’ll Never Call Him Dad Again‘ detailing how her mother bravely rebuilt her life and her own work to fight chemical submission – drug-facilitated assault.
Despite Gisele’s horrific ordeal she retains her dignity and has become a global symbol of strength.
Wanting to lift the shame Gisele said, ‘I wanted all woman victims of rape – not just when they have been drugged, rape exists at all levels – I want those women to say “If Madame Pelicot did it, we can do it too”.’
If you’ve been affected by this story, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 (Aus) or Safe To Talk on 0800 044 334 (NZ).
