Gisele Pelicot's daughter Caroline leaves the courthouse after a hearing in the trial of her father and Gisele's former partner Dominique Pelicot, accused of drugging Gisele Pelicot for nearly 10 years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, at a courthouse in Avignon. Photo / AFP
Gisele Pelicot's daughter Caroline leaves the courthouse after a hearing in the trial of her father and Gisele's former partner Dominique Pelicot, accused of drugging Gisele Pelicot for nearly 10 years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, at a courthouse in Avignon. Photo / AFP
WARNING: This story deals with sexual offending and may be distressing.
The daughter of the French man standing trial for enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife has clashed with her father at his trial, shouting in the courtroom that he would “die in lies”.
Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.
Dominique Pelicot, as in previous statements, went back to his past, saying that he was affected throughout his life by a rape he said he suffered at the age of 9 in hospital, and then at the age of 14 being forced to witness the gang-rape of a young girl at a building site.
“I don’t know when I’ll get out, but if I do get out [of prison], I don’t have any plans. What saddens me the most is that people think I’m capable of certain things that I’m not capable of doing,” he added.
Family lawyer Antoine Camus then interjected that Dominique Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian, joined in court by her brothers David and Florian, needed an “audible and human response” to the actions she says she is “convinced” she suffered at his hands.
Gisele Pelicot at the Avignon courthouse during the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot. Photo / AFP
Caroline Darian, a pen name, in 2022 wrote a book, Et j’ai cesse de t’appeler papa (“And I stopped calling you dad”). She believes she was also assaulted by her father, who took intimate photographs of her.
“I am not going to try to convince her with perverse answers,” Dominique Pelicot replied.
“I don’t remember taking these photos. I tell her straight in the eyes that I never touched her.”
He then turned to her directly and said: “Caroline, I have never done anything to you.”
But she interrupted, saying: “You lie, you don’t have the courage to tell the truth! Even about your ex-wife!”
“You will die in lies! Alone, alone in lies, Dominique Pelicot!”, she continued before being interrupted by judge Roger Arata.
This court sketch created on September 17, 2024, shows defendant Dominique Pelicot during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife so he and scores of strangers could rape her at their home in Mazan. Photo / AFP
Nude photos taken without her knowledge and photomontages of Caroline Darian with lewd titles were found on her father’s hard drive. In some, she appears asleep, sometimes wearing her mother’s underwear.
A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large.
