During his first testimony in a French court, Dominique Pelicot, accused of drugging his wife to allow himself and dozens of strangers to sexually assault her, confessed to being "a rapist" and admitted that Gisèle Pelicot "did not deserve" the nearly ten years of abuse she enduredd.
Pelicot, 71, begged her forgiveness, but said he was no different from 50 other men he recruited online to take part in the sexual abuse, adding they all knew what they were signing up for.
Decade of abuse
"I am a rapist, like the others in this room," he said, referring to his co-defendants.
"She did not deserve this," he added.
Dominique Pelicot is accused of administering anti-anxiety drugs to ex-wife Gisèle over a period of almost a decade, from 2011 to 2020.
He has been charged with raping her while she was unconscious, and recruiting dozens of other men he met online to do the same.
Man accused of enlisting strangers to rape drugged wife goes on trial in France
Pelicot had admitted the charges, but Tuesday was the first time he was speaking at any length since the trial began on 2 September.
He spoke of his "difficult" childhood, saying his parents "assaulted each other".
He briefly mentioned what he described as two "traumatic" episodes, being victim of a rape when he was nine years old and another on a construction site as an apprentice.
"I always carried these traumatising events with me," he said. "You're not born this way, you become it," he added.
His ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, who obtained a divorce from him last month, remained stoic as he spoke, then she took the stand herself.
"Not a for a single second did I doubt this man," she said.
"I loved this man for 50 years. I would have sacrificed my own two hands for him."
'I'm guilty'
Her former husband then asked her and others for forgiveness.
"She did not deserve this," he said.
"I am guilty of what I have done. I beg my wife, my children, my grandchildren... to accept my apologies. I ask for forgiveness," he said.
"I messed it all up... I must pay for it."
He also presented his apologies to another woman in the case, whose husband is accused of raping her while heavily sedated after following the same modus operandi.
But he said he had never abused his two sons and daughter.
"I had three children, who I never touched," he said.
The investigation revealed that Pelicot had on his computer naked pictures of his daughter and intimate photos of his two daughters-in-law, taken without their knowledge.
Court appearance
The main defendant had been excused from hearings for much of last week and did not show up on Monday.
His lawyer Beatrice Zavarro told French news agency AFP he was suffering from "a clot in the bladder" and the beginning of a kidney infection.
But a medical exam ordered by the presiding judge found that he was in a fit state to appear in court, avoiding a delay of weeks or even months to the hearings.
The case has prompted outrage across France, with thousands demonstrating in cities at the weekend to demand an end to rape and to support Gisele Pelicot.
Rallies across France in support of woman who was drugged, raped
"Shame must change sides," said several posters, echoing Gisèle Pelicot's words that it should be rapists - not their victims - who should be ashamed.
Gisèle thanked demonstrators on Monday.
"Thanks to you I have the strength to see this fight through to the end," she said.
(with AFP)
