Husband who drugged his wife to be raped by 50 men avoids giving evidence in court after he was found ‘vomiting and fainting’ in his cell – with his lawyer forced to deny it was a ‘ploy’ to evade justice

A French man who admitted drugging his wife and then having her raped by multiple strangers was too ill to testify in court today after being found “vomiting and fainting” in his cell.

Dominique Pélicot, 71, was due to be questioned on Wednesday by the Avignon court of first instance. He is one of 51 suspects accused of raping his wife Gisele Pelicot by drugging her and having her raped by strangers over a period of 10 years.

But before the procedure could begin, he was declared too ill to continue and was rushed from the building.

His lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, demanded a full medical examination, saying: ‘I found Mr. Pélicot lying in prison.

“He had vomited, fainted and had pain in his kidneys. He is here physically, but probably not in a state to calmly participate in the procedure.”

Pélicot faces up to 20 years in prison, along with 50 other suspects accused of the “aggravated rape” of Gisèle Pélicot, also 71, over nearly a decade.

But he has not appeared at his trial for the past two days due to ill health.

On Wednesday he dropped by, leaning against the side of a gallery with his left hand supporting his head, looking absently around the field.

Within minutes, Judge Roger Arata ordered Pélicot to leave, confirming that he had “pain” in his intestines, which was first reported on Monday.

Much to the horror of his victim Gisele Pelicot and her three mutilated children, Judge Roger Arata announced that he might have to postpone the trial if the main suspect Pelicot was not well enough to appear in court.

Heads were shaken in disbelief in court as Mrs Zavarro insisted his absence was not a “trick”.

She said, “Let’s be clear about this. Mr. Pélicot will not escape his own trial.

“He’ll be here. He’ll answer all the questions, but he can’t control what happens to his body. He didn’t plan on getting sick. He’s not a robot.”

Technically, it is possible to avoid a lawsuit in France due to extreme health concerns.

Stomach pain is often the result of problems in the small and large intestines. According to Pélicot’s lawyer, he had been suffering from it for a few days.

The judge said other witnesses would be questioned until Pélicot was fit to be questioned, possibly on Thursday.

Psychologists on Monday described Pélicot as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night.

He told detectives he considered himself a “good husband” to Mrs. Pélicot, whom he married in 1971 and with whom he had three children.

The couple’s divorce was finalised last month and Mrs Pélicot is now one of the prosecution’s key witnesses against him.

She sat in court with her children for the last seven days of the trial.

On Friday, Pélicot’s daughter called him “one of the greatest sexual predators” of recent years.

Caroline Darian, 46, says he secretly photographed her naked, along with her two sisters-in-law.

This happened in the same family home in Mazan, about 32 kilometres from Avignon, where Pélicot had invited the men after contacting them online.

Pélicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming under women’s skirts in a supermarket in Carpentras.

His devices were searched and hundreds of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members, were found.

While in custody, Mr Pélicot reported a hard drive hidden under a printer containing a file called ‘Abuses’.

The attackers’ nicknames and phone numbers were categorized, along with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped between 2011 and 2020.

Detectives have recorded a total of 92 rapes, committed by 72 men. 51 of them have been identified.

Pélicot moved with his family from the Paris region in 1991 and is said to have later set up a sex ring.

It concerned advertising on a site for ‘partners’ on an online forum called ‘Without Her Knowing’ on the site coco.fr.

Of the 83 men involved, 51, aged between 26 and 73, were identified and arrested by police.

Pélicot is said to have drugged his wife by adding Temesta, a powerful anti-anxiety drug, to her dinner.

After his arrest in September 2020, he told psychologists that his wife was to blame for his actions because she refused to have sex with him.

During interrogations in prison, Pelicot insisted the appalling abuse of his wife of 50 years, Gisele, would have continued if he had not been arrested.

Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a city councillor and truck drivers.

In another case, Pélicot is charged with the rape and murder of a 23-year-old real estate agent in Paris in 1991.

He admitted attempted rape in 1999 after DNA tests showed there was a case against him.

The case of rape with aggravated assault in Avignon is still ongoing and is expected to last until December 21.

Fourteen of the remaining suspects have confessed to rape, while the rest deny committing any crime.