In a disturbing case, 72-year-old Gisele Pelicot took the stand to testify against her husband, Dominique Pelicot, who allegedly drugged her and arranged for strangers from the internet to assault her. During the trial, it was revealed that one of the attackers was HIV positive and had reportedly abused Gisele more than six times.
According to The Sun, Gisele shared a heart-wrenching statement with the court: “My life was in danger, but not one second did anyone stop. Lucky I didn’t catch it. But not once did Mr Pélicot say to himself, ‘I’ve gone too far.’ He showed no pity, no pity at all.”
As the proceedings continued, the judge read excerpts from ‘And I Stopped Calling You Daddy’, a book written by Gisele’s daughter, Caroline Darian, now a 40-year-old mother. In the book, Caroline alleged that Dominique encouraged her mother’s attackers not to use protection during the assaults.
Gisele, in her testimony, recounted experiencing memory loss twice in 2011 and 2013, which led her to fear she had Alzheimer’s. She once jokingly asked Dominique if he was drugging her, to which he allegedly “broke down in tears” and responded, “You actually think I could do that?”
Dominique even accompanied Gisele to a doctor’s visit regarding her concerns about Alzheimer’s. However, the doctor suggested she might have had a “brain seizure,” rather than Alzheimer’s.
Gisele first met Dominique, whom she referred to as “Mr Pelicot” during the trial, in 1971, and they were married within two years. The horrific abuses Dominique allegedly orchestrated began in 2011, although Gisele was unaware of them at the time.
In 2020, Dominique was arrested for secretly recording videos under three women’s skirts. Upon further investigation, police discovered hundreds of images and videos of Gisele, many of which “clearly” showed her unconscious. These visuals allegedly depicted multiple instances of rape.
The investigation also uncovered a website where Dominique reportedly invited strangers to his home to assault his wife. The site has since been taken down by authorities.