Pelicot case: from the pensioner to the nurse, 51 unsuspected people in the dock

The day of truth has arrived for the trial on the violence suffered by Gisèle Pelicot, the woman who between 2011 and 2020 was sedated without her knowledge by her ex-husband Dominique who had her raped by dozens of strangers contacted on the Internet. The case, which shocked French and international public opinion, reaches its epilogue today with the sentence that will be announced this morning at the Avignon Court. A historic verdict according to the French media, destined to write a new page in the fight against violence against women.

There are 51 defendants in the dock, including Dominique Pelicot, nicknamed “the ogre of Mazan”, from the name of the town where the horrors took place. The prosecution asked for 20 years for him, the maximum sentence. For the other 50 men, all accused of taking part in the violence, sentences ranging from 4 to 18 years were evoked. A group made up of the most disparate profiles, ranging from the pensioner to the soldier, passing through the journalist, the truck driver and the nurse. Yet another demonstration of the banality of evil, which emerged with all its monstrosity during the trial. The victim, Gisèle, decided to make the hearings public precisely to raise public awareness, becoming a feminist symbol as evidenced by the many women who attended the hearings in recent weeks supporting the woman. His case has shed new light on the problem of “chemical submission” caused by drugs and medicines in the judicial context when it comes to sexual violence. A concept destined to evolve after the Pelicot affair.