Mass rape victim Gisele Pelicot condemns ‘cowardice’ of accused abusers
Al Jazeera
Dozens of men on trial in France claim they did not realise they were committing rape, accuse the husband of manipulation.
Gisele Pelicot, subjected to mass rape organised by her husband over a decade, has condemned the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her who claim they did not realise it was rape.
Her husband, Dominique Pelicot, recently admitted he drugged her and invited strangers to their house to rape her while she was unconscious in one of France’s most spectacular criminal trials in recent history.
Most of the 50 other men on trial have said they did not realise they were raping her, did not intend to rape her or put all the blame on her husband, who they said had manipulated them.
“For me, this is the trial of cowardice. There is no other way to describe it,” Gisele Pelicot said on Tuesday, adding that there was no excuse for abusing her when she was unconscious.
Video recorded by her husband and shown in court over the past weeks has repeatedly featured her motionless, sometimes snoring, while the accused abused her.
