The dizzying and heartbreaking case of Gisele Pelicot is back in the news. According to reports, the only man who challenged his conviction related to her being drugged and raped by her husband and dozens of others and is now moving through an appeal effort.
The Lowdown
One of France’s most notorious criminal cases is back in the news. According to reports, 44-year-old Husamettin Dogan is in the news this week as he begins his appeal in the case involving Pelicot. Dogan is among those who participated in the reported repeated rapes of Pelicot after she was plied with drugs at the time and taken advantage of. Dogan for his part claims that he never intended to rape Pelicot.
As the appeal process began in the southern city of Nimes on Monday, Dogan told a judge on opening day after he was asked whether or not he flatly denies the charge of rape.
“I never intended to do so … I am here because I never wanted to rape this lady, whom I respect.” He said he accepted he had had sexual contact with Pelicot but said: “I never knew she was drugged.”
What happened?
Gisele Pelicot first made news last year after it emerged from a criminal case that she was the victim of a decade-long rape scheme involving some 51 men including her own husband. According to the case, her husband Dominique Pelicot plied her with drugs without her knowledge over the course of a decade up until last year. While drugged she was repeatedly raped over that decade by 51 men. The case when it made news last year almost instantly made Pelicot an international hero as she bravely at the time alike on Monday waived her right to anonymity during the process.