The children of a French man who for a decade drugged their mother to have her raped by dozens of strangers spoke on Monday of their heartbreak and grief, with the daughter insisting she has been “forgotten” despite being also abused.
The couple’s children spoke in court in the southern city of Avignon as the trial entered its final stages, with the final set of accused testifying ahead of sentencing requests later in the week and a verdict next month.
Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men. Another defendant is still at large.
Pelicot’s former wife Gisele has become a feminist icon by refusing to be ashamed and demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.
Dominique Pelicot documented the assaults of his wife with meticulous precision on a hard drive in a folder labelled “abuse”, leading police to track down 50 men besides him.
Gisele’s daughter, who uses the pen name Caroline Darian, believes she was also assaulted by her father.
