Dominique Pelicot described himself as “the devil” during a court appearance, nine months after he was jailed for 20 years for raping his ex-wife and inviting dozens of strangers to abuse her.
Pelicot, 72, was at the Nimes Appeal Court on Tuesday to give evidence after one of the men convicted of rape at the end of last year sought to overturn the verdict.
He told the court that Husamettin Dogan, 44, knew Gisele Pelicot, 72, was sedated and came to their home deliberately to abuse her, as Dogan insisted he believed Ms Pelicot had consented to a sex game in which she pretended to be asleep.
“He had that information from the start,” Pelicot told the court, having been brought from jail. “They all knew. They all came with the same intention.”
Pelicot rejected Dogan’s argument in support of his wife, insisting: “I know what they say, but I know what they did and I know what I did. I have admitted what I did and I am paying for it.”
Asked separately why his wife never suspected that she was being drugged and abused by him, Pelicot said: “I did everything so that she wouldn’t notice. The person has confidence in you and does not notice the devil.”
At the end of his evidence, Mr Pelicot apologised to his family. His ex-wife attended the hearing with her son, Florian, 46.
On Wednesday, Ms Pelicot gave her own evidence, saying she never gave her consent to Dogan.
“At what moment did I give you my consent?” Ms Pelicot asked, confronting Dogan. “Never.”
“Take responsibility for your actions and stop hiding behind your cowardice,” she said.
Ms Pelicot is under no obligation to attend the proceedings. One of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, told the BBC she “feels she needs to be there and has a responsibility to be there until the end of the proceedings”.
Tuesday was the first time Ms Pelicot had seen her former husband since he was jailed last year.
The three-month trial ending in December rocked France, bringing sexual violence against women into the spotlight and inspiring rallies in support nationwide.
Pelicot, a former electrician and estate agent, crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication in his then-wife’s food, and invited strangers to abuse her while she was unconscious at their home in Mazan, Provence, between 2011 and 2020.
