The case, which has shocked France, involves a retired Frenchman who is on trial for allowing numerous strangers to rape his wife after drugging her. The 71-year-old, formerly employed at France’s state-owned power utility EDF, is on trial alongside 50 men recruited online, accused of committing 92 rapes, 51 of which have been identified.
The men, aged 26 to 74, are charged with raping the 72-year-old woman, who, according to her lawyers, was heavily sedated and unaware of the abuse that spanned a decade.
Presiding Judge Roger Arata ruled that all hearings would be public, fulfilling the woman’s request for “complete publicity until the end” of the trial, as stated by her lawyer, Stephane Babonneau. However, the trial is expected to be an “horrific ordeal” for her, according to another lawyer, Antoine Camus, who noted that she will be confronting the rapes she only learned of in 2020. The woman, supported by her three children in court, insisted on a public trial because she believed a closed trial would serve her attackers’ interests.
The investigation into her husband, Dominique P., began in September 2020 after he was caught secretly filming under women’s skirts in a shopping center. Police discovered hundreds of photos and videos on his computer depicting his unconscious wife, often in the fetal position.
The footage revealed dozens of rapes occurring in their home in Mazan, a village near Avignon. Conversations found on the now-defunct site coco.fr showed how Dominique P. recruited strangers to rape his wife, after drugging her with powerful tranquilizers, including Temesta.
The abuse began in 2011, when the couple lived near Paris, and continued after they moved to Mazan in 2013. Dominique P. not only participated in the rapes but also filmed and encouraged the other men using degrading language. No money was exchanged.
The accused include a forklift driver, a firefighter, a company boss, and a journalist. While some of the men participated multiple times, many claimed they thought they were helping a libertine couple fulfill fantasies. However, Dominique P. confessed that all participants were aware his wife was drugged without her knowledge.
Experts described the woman’s state as closer to a coma than sleep. Dominique P. confessed that only three men left the house without participating, while the others proceeded with the assaults.
He is also facing charges for a 1991 rape and murder, which he denies, and an attempted rape in 1999, to which he admitted following DNA testing. Experts concluded that while Dominique P. does not appear mentally ill, he has a need to feel “all-powerful” over the female body. The trial is set to continue until December 20.
