A Frenchman who admitted drugging and then letting strangers rape his wife was too ill to give evidence in court today after being found “vomiting and fainted” in his prison cell.
Dominique Pélicot, 71, was expected to be questioned on Wednesday at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, where he is one of 51 accused of raping his wife Gisele Pelicot by drugging her and allowing strangers to rape her over a decade.
But before the procedure began, he appeared to be too ill to continue and was quickly removed from the building.
His defense attorney, Béatrice Zavarro, asked for a full medical examination and said: “I met Mr. Pélicot lying in prison.
“He had vomited, fainted and had pain in his kidneys. He is physically here, but he is probably not in a condition to participate in the process calmly.”
Pélicot faces up to 20 years in prison, along with 50 other defendants, accused of the “aggravated rape” of Gisèle Pélicot, also 71, over nearly a decade.
Dominique Pélicot, shown in this courtroom sketch, appeared briefly on Wednesday, his left hand supporting his head as he slumped against the side of a gallery.
Gisele Pelicot (pictured) was unwittingly given a mixture of sleeping pills and tranquilizers by her husband.
His daughter Caroline Darian (pictured) said he secretly photographed her naked, along with her two sisters-in-law.
Dominique Pelicot is now on trial for a nearly decade-long campaign of drugging and sexually abusing his wife on camera, along with 50 other men he invited to the family home to engage in the heinous activity.
But he has not appeared at his trial for the past two days due to health problems.
He appeared briefly on Wednesday, his left hand propping up his head as he slumped against the side of a gallery, looking around the court with a blank expression.
Within minutes, Judge Roger Arata ordered Pélicot’s release, confirming that he was “suffering pain” in his intestines, which had been detected for the first time on Monday.
To the horror of his victim Gisele Pelicot and her three children, Judge Roger Arata announced that he might have to adjourn the trial if the main defendant, Gisele Pelicot, was not well enough to appear in court.
Heads shook in disbelief in the courtroom as Ms Zavarro insisted her absence was not a “ploy”.
He said: ‘Let’s be clear about this. Mr Pélicot will not avoid his own trial.
“He’ll be here. He’ll answer all the questions, but he can’t control what happens to his body. He didn’t plan to be sick. He’s not a robot.”
It is technically possible to avoid a trial in France due to extreme health problems.
Caroline and her two brothers David and Florian had enjoyed an idyllic childhood and for most of their lives were blessed with a stable and happy family life.
The mother of three had moved to the Provence village with her husband, former electrical worker Dominique, from Villiers-sur-Marne, near Paris, in 2013.
Village of Mazan where Dominique Pelicot and his wife Gisele Pelicot lived. When she tested positive for STDs, Mr. Pelicot said she must have been unfaithful to him when he was playing pétanque
Dominique Pelicot broke down in court as his wife described their once-happy family.
Abdominal pain is often the result of problems in the small and large intestine, and Pélicot’s lawyer said it has been affecting him for several days.
The judge said other witnesses would be heard until Pélicot was fit enough to be questioned, possibly on Thursday.
On Monday, psychologists described Pélicot as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night.
He told detectives he considered himself a “good husband” to Ms Pélicot, whom he married in 1971 and had three children with.
The couple’s divorce was finalized last month and Pélicot is now one of the main witnesses for the prosecution against him.
She has been sitting in court for the past seven days of the trial, along with her children.
On Friday, Pélicot’s own daughter described him as “one of the biggest sexual predators” of recent years.
Caroline Darian, 46, said he secretly photographed her naked, along with her two sisters-in-law.
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the court in Avignon, France, on Tuesday, accompanied by her sons Fliran (left) and David (right)
Gisele Pelicot faces reporters as she leaves the courtroom flanked by her sons Florian (back) and David (right) after attending a session of the trial of her ex-partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at his home in Mazan, a small town in southern France, at the courthouse in Avignon, Monday
This happened in the same family home in Mazan, about 20 miles from Avignon, to which Pélicot had invited the men after contacting them online.
Pélicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming under women’s skirts in a supermarket in Carpentras.
They searched his devices and found hundreds of pornographic photos and videos of women, including his family members.
It was during his arrest that Mr. Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, containing a file called “Abuses”.
She classified the nicknames and phone numbers of the attackers, as well as some 3,800 photographs and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.
Pélicot moved his family from Paris in 1991 and subsequently allegedly created the drug trafficking network.
It was advertising on a site for ‘couples’ on an online forum called ‘Without her knowing’ on the site coco.fr.
Caroline, the daughter of Gisele Pelicot, who was allegedly drugged and raped by men at the request of her husband Dominique Pelicot, walks in court in Avignon, France, on Tuesday.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 between the ages of 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by giving her Temesta, a powerful anti-anxiety drug, at dinner.
Following his arrest in September 2020, he told psychologists that his wife was to blame for his actions because she refused to go swinging with him.
During prison interviews, Pelicot maintained that the sickening abuse of his 50-year-old wife, Gisele, would have continued had he not been arrested.
The alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old real estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He admitted to attempted rape in 1999 after DNA evidence showed there were charges against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case is continuing and is expected to last until December 21.
Fourteen of the other defendants admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.
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