Youngest man who raped Avignon Monster’s wife took part in horrific sexual abuse on day his daughter was born: 26-year-old is among six questioned in court today

The youngest of 50 men accused of raping a French woman who was drugged by her husband visited the house of horrors for the first time on the day his daughter was born, a court has heard.

Joan Kwai, 26, is testifying today along with six other men accused of rape: Andy Rodriguez, 37, Hugues Malago, 39, Husamettin Dogan, 43, Mathieu Dartus, 53, and Fabien Sotton, 39.

Judge Roger Arata ruled last week that the 50 suspects will be divided into four groups and heard in groups of six, in an attempt to limit the number of people present in court.

Retired electrician Dominique Pelicot, 71, is accused of drugging his unsuspecting wife Gisele, also 71, for nearly a decade so the men could rape and abuse her.

Ms Pelicot has become a symbol for rape victims in France, courageously giving up her anonymity for the trial that made headlines around the world.

Dominique Pelicot, who allegedly drugged and raped his wife Gisele Pelicot, appears at his trial with 50 co-defendants at the courthouse in Avignon, France, September 17, 2024

Kwai, the first of the suspects to testify today, was born in Guyana but moved to the Vacluse region of France as a teenager.

The father was only 23 when he was arrested in the barracks where he served.

He first visited the house in November 2019, the day his daughter was born.

He then went back again and admitted that he had visited for the third time, but that Dominique Pelicot had cancelled at the last minute.

He initially told investigators that he had not asked himself whether Mrs Pelicot had given consent.

When he subsequently saw the photos, he admitted that she was unconscious and that it was rape.

At the start of the trial, he said he “recognized the facts, but not the intent.”

Fourteen of the men on trial have admitted their role in the horrific case, while the rest deny the charges and maintain they were “misled as part of a plot” by the couple.

Eighteen men are in custody and, as has been the case since the case began, Ms Pelicot was greeted with warm applause as she entered the courthouse in Avignon, southern France.

Gisele Pelicot (center) receives applause from the audience as she arrives at the Avignon courthouse during the trial

While those released on bail – including a carpenter, a builder, a retired firefighter, a municipal worker, a prison officer and a journalist – were greeted with boos and jeers.

Extra security was deployed for the trial after one of the suspects pushed a French TV crew as they filmed him. A lawyer was needed to calm the situation.

The attacks took place at the couple’s rented home in the picturesque village of Mazan, 40 minutes away in the Provence countryside, near the iconic Mont Ventoux.

Pelicot was eventually arrested in September 2020 after security personnel caught him reaching up to four women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras, a few minutes away from Mazan.

A search of his home found thousands of photos of his wife in a computer file labeled “Abuse.” Prosecutors say he drugged his wife between 2011 and 2020 so dozens of men could rape her.

In another case, Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old real estate agent in Paris in 1991

Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to repeatedly attack his wife over a period of 10 years

Detectives have recorded a total of 92 rapes of Mrs Pelicot, committed by 82 men, of whom 51, including her husband, have been identified.

Pelicot is said to have drugged his wife by adding Temesta to her evening meal.

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

The former electrician, who is confined to a wheelchair and surrounded by security guards during the hearing, also confessed to being raped once in 1999 after DBNA tests linked him to the case.

Officials expect the case to last until December.