Defendant in French mass rape trial says ‘couldn’t control sexuality’

Published October 2, 2024
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courthouse on September 16 with her lawyers Stephane Babonneau and Antoine Camus for the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot, accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan. — AFP
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the Avignon courthouse on September 16 with her lawyers Stephane Babonneau and Antoine Camus for the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot, accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan. — AFP

A defendant in a mass rape trial that has horrified France told the court Wednesday that he “couldn’t control [his] sexuality” in six rapes of a woman drugged into unconsciousness.

“I didn’t go back there because I liked ‘rape style’ sex”, 46-year-old former supermarket worker Jerome V told the court in Avignon, where he is one of 51 defendants.

The men are accused of raping Gisele Pelicot, now aged 71, over almost a decade after responding to online invitations from her then-husband, Dominique Pelicot. He orchestrated the abuse while she was drugged with anxiety medication between 2011 and 2020.

“It was because I couldn’t control my sexuality,” Jerome V said when asked why he repeatedly returned to the couple’s home in the sleepy southern French town of Mazan.

Jerome V, who has admitted to aggravated rape charges, is one of 18 defendants being held in custody throughout the trial.

He claimed that when he first visited Mazan in spring 2020 after a breakup and during a Covid lockdown, where his “overwhelming sexuality” left him “unable to stand up to Mr Pelicot. I didn’t know how to say ‘no’ to Mr. Pelicot.” Jerome V first encountered Dominique Pelicot on the chat site Coco.fr, which has since been shut down by French authorities.

“The way [Pelicot] worked was to chuck in pictures [of his then-wife] … hoping to spark a reaction,” he said. “In my case, the photos had an impact. I wanted to get out of it, I fled, I hoped he wouldn’t contact me any more, but I didn’t do anything to stop it,” Jerome V acknowledged.

He ultimately visited the Pelicot home six times between March and June 2020.

“It’s difficult to tell you why I was unable to say ‘this must stop’,” he said. Jerome V said he was afraid Dominique Pelicot would publish the photos of him raping Gisele. “I was scared of the impact,” he added.

Dominique Pelicot filmed much of the abuse of his wife, a practice that later allowed police to identify many of the men suspected of raping her after his arrest when he was caught taking pictures up women’s skirts in a supermarket in 2020.

Jerome V said he had been “under the spell” of Gisele Pelicot’s then-husband. Psychologists called the defendant “weak”, “naive” and “not very assertive” in testimony to the court.

Opinion

Editorial

Not cricket
06 Apr, 2025

Not cricket

IT is getting embarrassing for the Pakistan cricket team, and for the sport as a whole in the country — the lack ...
Balochistan deadlock
06 Apr, 2025

Balochistan deadlock

THE state’s efforts to stifle political activity in Balochistan are unlikely to improve the situation, and instead...
Escalating brutality
06 Apr, 2025

Escalating brutality

ISRAEL’S war against Gaza is not a campaign against Hamas — it is a war against a people. The latest ground...
Electricity relief
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Electricity relief

If govt ensures that requisite power reforms are implemented, it will earn much praise for reforming a vital segment of the economy.
Trump’s trade wars
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Trump’s trade wars

Shoddy math applied by US to indiscriminately penalise its trading partners signals the end of an era of global trade liberalisation.
Legalised land grab
Updated 05 Apr, 2025

Legalised land grab

The Modi government from its inception has been attacking India’s minorities, the largest such community in its crosshairs being the Muslims.