Prosecutors demand 20-year sentence for ex-husband

Gisele Pelicot was drugged & raped by her then husband along with 50 other people between 2011 and 2020

- Roshan Bourget

Today, at the court hearing of the Pelicot mass rape case in France, the prosecution sought the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison against the main perpetrator, Dominique Pelicot, 71, for his "abject actions" of having drugged, raped and had his wife, Gisele Pelicot, raped by dozens of men recruited on the internet for a whole decade between July 2011 and October 2020 at their marital home in Mazan, south of France.

"20 years is a lot, because it is 20 years of a life, whatever be one's age. But it is also too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated," stressed the deputy prosecutor, Laure Chabaud while requesting at the same time that "at the end of the accused's sentence, a possible detention measure be considered."

Dominique Pelicot, who has never denied his acts, has admitted to being a "rapist," nevertheless seemed affected by the sentence requested against him.

"He is devastated, it is never easy for a man to hear that a 20-year sentence is requested against him," said his lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, when the hearing was adjourned.