“I am a rapist,” admits husband in French mass rape trial

Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old man accused of drugging his wife to put her to sleep and recruiting dozens of men to abuse her over a decade, has admitted all the charges against him in his first testimony since the trial began on September 2.

Referring to the 50 co-defendants accused of raping his now ex-wife Gisele, Pelicot said: “I am a rapist like the others in this room.”

“They all knew it and cannot claim otherwise,” he said.

He said of his ex-wife: “She doesn’t deserve this.”

“I was very happy with her,” he said in court.

Gisele, who was given the opportunity to respond shortly afterwards, said: “It’s hard for me to listen to this. For 50 years I lived with a man who I never thought was capable of this. I trusted him completely.”

Mr Pelicot, who has been diagnosed with a kidney infection and kidney stones, has been unable to appear in court for nearly a week because of illness. He is due to give evidence throughout the day, although he will be granted frequent breaks.

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