Judges reveal that a husband’s revenge may have fueled a horrific crime against his wife, involving multiple men and years of abuse.
Avignon: This case is just chilling. Dominique Pelicot, a 72-year-old guy, was sentenced to 20 years for raping his ex-wife, Gisèle. The judges think he might have done it out of revenge for her cheating on him.
It gets worse. About 50 other men were also found guilty of various sexual crimes against Gisèle, who had no idea what was happening to her for years. Police discovered footage of the abuse, which is just horrifying.
The court found that Dominique specifically picked these men based on certain traits, and he even recorded hundreds of hours of the assaults. The judges noted that this behavior seemed to feed into his twisted fantasies.
Gisèle admitted in court that she had an affair, which made Dominique furious. Her son even questioned if he was really Dominique’s biological child, which adds another layer of drama to this already tragic story.
The judges were clear: Dominique was the mastermind behind this whole thing. They dismissed his claims that the other men knew Gisèle was drugged and unable to consent. They said there was no evidence to support that idea.
They concluded that Gisèle was completely unaware of what was happening to her, and the way she was drugged meant she couldn’t give consent. This was a case of surprise and constraint, according to French law.
Now, Dominique and the others have 10 days to appeal the verdict. If they do, it could lead to a retrial. Plus, Dominique is also under investigation for a separate murder case from 1991, which just adds to the horror of this situation.
It’s a lot to take in, and it really makes you think about the dark side of human nature.