French prosecutors want 20 years for Dominique Pelicot in the case of mass rape Debate News

The 71-year-old French man drugged his wife and invited many strangers to rape her over a period of nine years.

French prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison sentence for a man who orchestrated the mass rape of his ex-wife over a period of nearly ten years.

Dominique Pelicot drugged his wife Gisele Pelicot and invited a number of strangers to their homes in Paris and the southern town of Mazan between 2011 and 2020.

The 71-year-old pleaded guilty to all charges in the case that embarrassed France and drew international attention to the issue of sexual violence.

Forty-nine other men were also charged with complicity in the torture. The prosecutors are expected to announce what sentences they will seek for the accused in the next two days.

Prosecutors rejected arguments made by many of the men, aged between 21 and 68 at the time of the attack, that they believed they were participating in a consensual dream or were not in their right mind.

Footage played in court in recent weeks, part of some 20,000 videos and photos taken by Dominique Pelicot, showed Gisele lying motionless as the men beat her.

“The accused tried to escape the case by thinking that Gisele Pelicot confessed,” public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told a packed court in the city of Avignon.

“But it is impossible, today, in 2024, to look at that,” Chabaud said.

Chabaud said that although 20 years is the maximum sentence that can be given to Dominique, “it is too small considering the seriousness of the actions that were carried out and repeated”.

Prosecutors also said they want Jean-Pierre Marechal to be sentenced to 17 years.

The 63-year-old suspect – whom Dominique met on a now-closed chat room for men asking for rape material – also admitted that he fed his wife so that both men could rape her.

The sentencing of the defendants is expected to come out at the end of the trial on December 20.

Gisele would have wanted the case to be kept behind closed doors, but she asked for it to be made public.

The 71-year-old woman said she hopes that it will help other women to speak up and face the discrimination of survivors of sexual violence.

The trial has sparked rallies in support of Gisele in France, and fueled debate over whether to amend the country’s rape law, which is currently silent on the requirement that sex involve consent.

Instead, prosecutors need to prove the perpetrator’s intention to commit rape using “violence, coercion, threats or surprise”.