The family of multiple rape victim Gisele Pelicot has been 'torn apart' by the trial in which her husband was imprisoned for twenty years, it emerged today.
Ms. Pelicot, 72, was surrounded by her three adult children as she made her first appearance as the prosecution's key witness against Dominique Pelicot, also 72.
The Frenchman was accused of drugging his wife for almost a decade, then allowing dozens of men he met online to defile her.
But by the time a jury in Avignon, in the south of France, found him guilty of aggravated rape last month, a deep rift had already opened.
Ms Pelicot's lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, told the Sunday Times: 'When there is sexual assault within families, it tears the family apart, and that is what happened here. It's very sad, that's why sexual violence has such an impact even across generations.'
Mr Babonneau would not discuss the details of the family feud, but it is believed to be linked to the Pelicot's only daughter, Caroline Darian, 46.
She insists that she too was drugged and assaulted by her father, but no evidence has ever been found to support this claim.
Ms. Darian, in turn, is angry that her mother has not supported her in her own criminal complaints.
The family of multiple rape victim Gisele Pelicot (pictured leaving the courthouse in Avignon, France on December 19, 2024) is 'torn' by the trial in which her husband was imprisoned for 20 years, it emerged today.
Ms. Pelicot (left) appeared as the prosecution's key witness against Dominique Pelicot (right, as shown in a September 2024 court sketch). The Frenchman was accused of drugging his wife for almost a decade, then allowing dozens of men he met online to defile her
Pelicot's only daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, (photo arrived at the courthouse in November 2024) insists she too was drugged and assaulted by her father, but no evidence has ever emerged to support this claim.
Mrs Darian has written a book about her ordeal, in which she writes: 'Because of my father I am now losing my mother.'
After 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, were convicted of various crimes, including aggravated rape, in December, Ms. Darian's plans for a family celebration were canceled.
Mr. Babonneau would not say whether the family even spent Christmas and New Year together.
Instead, he said Mrs Pelicot – who divorced her husband in the summer – now lived at a secret address in a French village and no longer used her married name.
This means she has moved from the former family home in Mazan, near Avignon, where the rapes took place.
Babonneau said she was “trying to stay normal, and the way to do that is to get back to normal life.”
This court sketch, taken on December 19, 2024 in Avignon, shows Gisele Pelicot during the hearing of the court's verdict that sentenced her ex-husband to the maximum prison term of 20 years for committing and orchestrating her mass rapes with dozens of strangers he found online recruited
The lawyer added: 'She also has to adjust to the fact that she can't go to the supermarket without being recognized – and she is not an actor or a celebrity, but only because she has taken part in a trial.'
Despite the division, Babonneau said, “They are all real people trying to cope, and when Gisèle spoke after the verdict, her first words were to her family.”
Of the 51 men convicted, 17 have appealed, and there are at least 20 assailants who have never been identified.
They were captured in videos Dominique Pelicot made of his wife being abused.
Such images – which he kept on his own devices – constituted prosecution evidence against Pelicot.
It came as Pelicot said he would fight allegations that he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl at her parents' home in Paris in 1995.
Caroline Dorian arrives at the court in Avignon, France on December 19, 2024. Ms Darian is said to be angry that her mother has not supported her in her own criminal complaints
The woman, now 42, has just filed a complaint with police in the French capital and an investigation is underway after she said she recognized her alleged attacker due to the publicity surrounding the Avignon trial.
But Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, said: 'He absolutely denies this new accusation. He's absolutely baffled by it.'
Pelicot is also under investigation for two unsolved cases in the Paris area: an attempted rape in 1999, which he confessed to, and an attempted rape and murder in 1991, which he denies.
