MailOnline looks at how Gisele Pelicot bravely battled on through, as her abuser ex-husband, 'the Monster of Avignon' is jailed for 20 years. The French grandmother bravely fought the legal battle, supported by her family and members of the public.
Follow MailOnline's live blog as verdict is expected in Monster of Avignon trial Gisele Pelicot has given a powerful statement after the jailing of her depraved husband and his rapist accomplices, saying she has 'never regretted' her decision to waive her anonymity and that she did so to reveal to the world what they had done.
'I'm thinking about all the other families affected by the case and the not recognised victims in the shadows... I share their struggle.' Asked for her view on the sentences handed out to her rapists, Mme Pelicot said: 'I respect the decisions and I respect the court.' Gisele Pelicot talks to journalists after the verdict in the trial for Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-accused David Pelicot, one of Gisele's two sons, is seen giving a thumbs up as he takes a phone call outside the courthouse after his father was given the maximum sentence of 20 years in jail
Maitre Zavarro said that no decision had yet been made on whether Pelicot will lodge an appeal, which he is able to do for the next ten days. Gisele Pelicot's children reacted angrily as some of the sentences were read out, deploring 'it's not possible' as one convicted rapist was handed just five years. The family has said they are 'disappointed by the low sentences'.
Mme Pelicot looked at each of the defendants as their verdicts were read out. This court sketch depicts her looking at her husbandDominque Pelicot is accused of drugging his ex wife Gisele and inviting dozens of men to rape her while he watched and filmed them over a decade long period of hell The trial – which has gathered international attention – has gripped France and the world since its outset in September.
Other defendants - including primary defendant Pelicot - were brought to the court in prison vans with sirens blaring across the medieval city. As interest in the case grew, Mme Pelicot was clapped and cheered as she arrived at court and left at the end of the day. Graffiti honouring her bravery was daubed on Avignon's medieval stone walls and protests in support of her erupted all over France.
French criminal law defines rape as any sexual act committed by 'violence, coercion, threat or surprise' but makes no reference to any need for consent - an aspect that campaigners have fixed on as outdated and wrong. However, the scores of videos of the unbridled truth, taken by Pelicot over ten years and shown in court to the shame-faced defendants and members of the public who queued every day to watch the real-life drama play out, left very little room for doubt.
'They didn't rape me with a gun or knife to their heads – they raped me in full consciousness. They treated me like a rag doll.Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, the victim of an alleged mass rape orchestrated by her then-husband Dominique Pelicot at their home in the southern French town of Mazan, arrives at court with her lawyers
Gisele Pelicot, 72, held her head high as she heard and watched films taken by her husband of 50 years in which she was abused some 200 times by strangers he had invited into their home Read More 50 rape case defendants' disturbing testimonies in Monster of Avignon trial Moroccan-born hospital nurse Redouane El Farihi screamed his innocence before a video of him assaulting Madame Pelicot while she lay motionless was played in court.
There was IT worker Lionel Rodriguez, 44; painter and decorator Husamettin Dogan, 43; odd-job man Mathieu Dartus, 53; motorcycle mechanic and racer Hugues Malago, 39; and farm worker Andy Rodriguez, 37. Over almost ten years he invited strangers – up to three times a week – to come to the couple's retirement chalet to rape his wife, which he had rendered unconscious by putting powerful sedatives in her dinner and glass of rose wine.To ensure they weren't seen, Pelicot told the would-be rapists to park well away from the house, avoid wearing after-shave or smelling of cigarette smoke, and ensure they left nothing behind in the bedroom.
A search by gendarmes of his home discovered some 20,000 lurid images and images of his wife being violated in the marital bed on computer files and mobile phones. 'We were 50 years together, with three children and seven grandchildren, and our friends said we were the ideal couple. I just couldn't take it in.'
In it were photographs of Pelicot's daughter, Caroline Darian, as a young woman, lying asleep on a bed, dressed in lingerie and partially naked. But in his final statement Pelicot admitted to the court that he was a sex addict but denied drugging his daughter Caroline and taking photographs of her semi-naked on a bed dressed in her mother's lingerie.But in a furious outburst Caroline Darian screamed: 'You are lying!'You will die alone like a dog and caught out in lies!'
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