“I am a rapist“, acknowledged Dominique Pelicot, accused like 50 men, in the trial of the serial rapes of Mazan in the south of France, assuring that his ex-wife “did not deserve“what she had suffered for ten years.
“I am a rapist like those in this room. They all knew, they can’t say otherwise.” assured Dominique Pelicot, speaking of the co-defendants in the trial, some of whom made a small noise of disapproval in the courtroom.
This is the first time that the main accused has spoken since the start of this emblematic trial of sexual violence and chemical submission, which began on September 2 before the Vaucluse criminal court in Avignon and is scheduled to last until December 20.
Absent for a week for health reasons, he reappeared for the first time this Tuesday with a lighter protocol, required by doctors, and in particular with a chair at his disposal and regular breaks.
Invited at the start of the hearing to discuss his life, Dominique Pelicot first returned to two sexual assaults that he said he suffered during his youth: a rape by a nurse during a hospitalization at the age of nine, then on a construction site when he was an apprentice at the age of 14, where he was according to him forced to participate in the gang rape of a young disabled woman.
“Pardon”
“I still had these traumas behind me” he explained, his voice shaking and in tears.
“From my youth, I only remember shocks and traumas. In 1971, there was this beautiful meeting (with Gisèle). It was too heavy to bear“, he explained in a slow, sobbing voice.You are not born like that, you become like that.” he added.
“I lasted 40 years, I was very happy with her, she was the opposite of my mother, she was totally rebellious. I had three children, whom I never touched. She didn’t deserve that, I admit it“, he added facing his ex-wife, sitting on the civil parties’ bench.
“I am guilty of what I have done. I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren, Mrs. M. (raped by her husband using the same method and in the presence of Dominique Pelicot, Editor’s note), to please accept my apologies. I ask for forgiveness, even if it is not acceptable.” he pleaded.
According to the investigation, photos of his daughter and two stepdaughters, some of them naked and taken without their knowledge, were found on his computer.
Aided by a cane and dressed in a grey jacket, Dominique Pelicot, excused from the hearing for a week for health reasons, slowly entered the dock shortly before 9am on Tuesday, before sitting down on a blue armchair that was supposed to be more comfortable and allow him to follow the upcoming hearings.
On Monday evening, a medical examination ordered by the president of the criminal court concluded that he was fit to appear, removing, for the moment, the scenario feared by the victims of a postponement of several weeks or even several months.
Dominique Pelicot, who documented all the rapes in files filed on his computer, admitted to the facts, committed between 2011 and 2020, but he had never explained himself in detail since the opening of the trial.
His ex-wife, Gisèle Pelicot, remained stoic throughout her speech before herself taking the stand to briefly testify.
“Not for a single second could I doubt this man.“in whom”I had complete confidence” she explained.
