Partners accused in Gisele Pelicot gang rape case ‘stunned’ French women

Vanessa P., one of the women who testified at the hearing, said that she no longer respected her former partner Quentin H (34), who was a guard for allegedly harassing Gisele Pelicot.

The child care worker accused him of being “manipulative” and said: “When you see what they’re accusing him of, you start to doubt everything.”

Emilie O, 33, described her ex-partner Hugues M, 39, who was accused of “attempted rape” at the hearing, in a similar way.

“I thought I was living a peaceful and fulfilling life, but I was wrong,” she said, adding that she, too, would always be afraid of being raped.

Emilie O. split from her partner in 2020 after police uncovered years of harassment of Gisele Pelicot and discovered Hugues M. had multiple affairs.

‘He was always respectful’

Gisele Pelicot, now 71, has become a feminist icon both at home and abroad since the trial began in September; He refuses to be embarrassed and demands that the hearing be open to the public.

Like him, Cilia M. was also drugged and raped.

Her husband, Jean-Pierre M (63), is the only defendant who was not accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot at the trial.

Instead, he and Dominique Pelicot were accused of repeatedly drugging and sexually assaulting Cilia M using the same method between 2015 and 2018.

“He was a wonderful person, but he destroyed us,” said the mother of five children, one of whom is disabled.

Cilia M told the court she would “never forgive” her husband, who claimed his own father sexually abused her as a child.

She has since broken up with him but did not press charges to “protect” her children.

Corinne M had already separated from her husband, former builder Thierry P, 54, when the Pelicot case came to light after the death of their son in a road accident led him to become an alcoholic.

He was confused by her behavior.

When it came to sex “he was always respectful. When it was no, it was no… I really don’t understand why you’re here today,” he said at the hearing.

Veronique Le Goaziou, a sociologist specializing in sexual abuse, told AFP that defendants’ partners were often “stunned”.

He said they often have difficulty imagining the alleged violence because it “goes beyond their understanding.”

“In some cases… they can’t or won’t believe it.”

‘This is not him’

Samira T said she was still trying to understand why her partner, Jerome V, raped Gisele Pelicot six times at his home in the southern town of Mazan in 2020.

But he would be there for her to “support” her.

“It’s not a coincidence that we met,” he said. “This task was given to me.”

Jerome V, a 46-year-old former minimart worker who claimed to have slept with 89 people, told the court that he could not control his sexuality.

Samira T said that she tried to satisfy her high libido by fulfilling her sexual desires almost every day “at 10 o’clock at night”, agreeing to be photographed naked or go for a walk naked.

“He had no reason to go look anywhere else,” she said, tearfully.

Another woman, Hien B, blamed herself.

While she was caring for her sick mother, Jean-Luc L repeatedly brushed her off when she wanted to have sex.

“I think he decided to go somewhere else as a man,” he said.

Sonia R, one of the defendant’s partners in Avignon, has been dating Patrice N for over a year.

He said he wanted to look to the future with hope.

“I support him and trust him with all my heart,” he said.

Lucie B also stood by Gregory S, her partner of seven years. She is pregnant with their third child.

“I don’t see him as a rapist. “It’s not that,” he said.

She said after they met in 2017, he told her about visiting Pelicot’s home earlier that year.

“He told me that getting drunk was a husband and his wife’s idea of ​​fun,” she added.