In a rape trial in France, a woman will testify about years of torture through drugs and abuse

AVIGNON, France (AP) — A woman who was allegedly drugged by her ex-husband so that she could be raped by other men while unconscious is scheduled to testify before a panel of French courts Thursday about her years-long ordeal.

Her former husband, Dominique Pélicot, now 71, and 50 other men are on trial for rape. They face up to 20 years in prison. The trial began on Monday in the southern French city of Avignon and is expected to last until December.

Gisèle Pélicot and her husband lived with their three children in their family home in a small town in Provence for 50 years. But at the end of 2020, their world collapsed.

A security guard caught her husband taking photos of women's crotches in a supermarket. Investigators then searched Dominique Pélicot's phone and computer and found thousands of photos and videos of men apparently raping his then-wife Gisèle in their home while she appeared to be unconscious.

The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual abuse unless they consent to publication. Gisèle Pélicot's lawyer Stéphane Babonneau said she agreed to the publication of her name and to the request that her trial be held in public.

While investigating the case, police officers also found messages that Dominique Pélicot allegedly sent via a messaging website commonly used by criminals, in which he encouraged men to sexually abuse his wife. The website has since been closed.

During the trial on Wednesday, rough details emerged of the repeated attacks, which investigators say began as early as 2011, and of the sophisticated system Pélicot had built up over a period of ten years.

Men invited to the couple's home had to follow certain rules – they were not allowed to speak loudly, had to take off their clothes in the kitchen, were not allowed to wear perfume and were not allowed to smell of tobacco, French media reported.

They sometimes had to wait for up to an hour and a half in a nearby parking lot until the drug took full effect and rendered their victim unconscious.

When the couple's daughter – who appears naked in photomontages on her father's computer – heard some of the horrifying details in court, she burst into tears and had to leave the courtroom, French media reported.

Because Pélicot recorded the alleged rapes on video, the police were able to track down most of the 72 suspects they were looking for over the course of two years.

In addition to Pélicot, 50 other men between the ages of 22 and 70 are on trial. Several defendants deny some of the charges against them and claim that they were manipulated by Pélicot.

Over the next few months, the defendants will appear in small groups before a panel of five judges. Pélicot is due to speak next week. Psychologists, psychiatrists and computer experts will also testify.

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Vaux-Montagny reported from Lyon, France