A mum who was allegedly raped by multiple strangers after being drugged by her own husband today faced them all in a packed court room.

Gisèle Pélicot, a 72-year-old French woman, waived her legal right to anonymity on Monday at the opening of the trial of Dominique Pélicot, 71, and 51 other men.

All are accused of aggravated rape in a trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court, in Avignon, which is due to last for four months. Twenty of them, including Pélicot, are in custody, while the others remain on bail.

Asked to confirm his name and address at the start of proceedings, Pélicot said: “My home is prison, you know it”. Ms Pélicot, a mother-of-three, was supported by her adult children as she stood in the public gallery, listening to evidence.

The family home, in nearby Mazan, allegedly became a crime scene over almost a decade, when streams of men were invited to attack Ms Pélicot. Her husband is said to have used an online platform called coco.fr to contact them between 2011 and 2020.

    • Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      What got me was the one guy who said it wasn’t rape because “It’s his wife, he does what he likes with her." Tf kind of reasoning even is that?!

      • norimee@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Marital rape only became a crime in the mid -late 1990’s in most countries.

        Before that it was really like that before the law. She’s his wife? He has a right to her body.

      • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        You’re talking about the frontrunner for the GOP, presidential candidate, as well as a private individual who never raped anybody. And, of course, understand that by the very definition, you can’t rape your spouse.

        -Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen