Husband in France allegedly recruited over 50 men to rape wife, 72, while drugged over past decade

For 10 years, Dominique Pélicot allegedly drugged his wife with sleeping pills and recruited men to rape her.

His wife, 72-year-old Gisele, will take the stand on Sep. 5 in a mass trial against 51 of her alleged abusers.

The high-profile trial has been made public on Gisele's insistence, so the full facts can emerge, reported the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Dominique has pleaded guilty.

10 years of abuse

The abuse began in 2011, when Gisele was 59, and lasted nearly 10 years till 2020.

AFP reported that the pensioner recruited the men online and drugged his wife with powerful tranquilisers, especially Temesta, an anxiety drug.

The assaults would take place at the couple's home in France.

Dominique would take part in the rapes, film them, and encourage the men using degrading language.

While most participated just once, some men did so up to six times.

No money changed hands.

The trial

His crimes were brought to light by chance when he was caught filming up women's skirts at a supermarket.

The retiree had documented his abuses of his wife on a hard drive with a folder labelled "abuse".

There, French police found hundreds of pictures and videos of his wife, unconscious and mostly in a foetal position.

They counted 92 rapes committed by 72 men.

A total of 51 men, aged between 26 and 74, have been identified.

During the first two days of the trial, lawyers asked investigators whether the couple had a libertine relationship, or whether it was credible that she had been unaware of the abuse for the whole decade.

When the judge recounted how naked photomontages of their daughter had been found on his computer, the daughter collapsed in tears and had to leave the courtroom with her two brothers, The Guardian reported.

Meanwhile, Gisele remained stoic throughout.

Investigators also found footage of Gisele's abuse being shared on a controversial website, where he told others that the drugging allowed him to engage in practices she would normally refuse.

After his initial arrest, he said he had "acted on impulses" that he had "not been able to control".

An awful ordeal

One of her lawyers, Antoine Camus, said the trial would be "a totally awful ordeal" for the 72-year-old woman.

"For the first time, she will experience the rapes to which she was subjected to for 10 years", of which she has "no memory", he told AFP.

If convicted, most of her alleged abusers face up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape.

Meanwhile, Dominique may have to undergo more than one trial.

He was also charged with a 1991 murder and rape, which he denied, and an attempted rape in 1999, which he has admitted to.

According to experts, Dominique does not appear to be mentally ill.

But the retiree, who said he was raped by a male nurse at age nine, appeared to have a need to feel "all powerful" over the female body, AFP reported.

His lawyer has told the media that he is ready to face "his family and his wife".

Top photo from @GossipRoomOff/X