Topics: France, Crime, World News
Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter has detailed the alleged heartbreaking six-word statement her mother said to her during the trial of Dominique Pelicot.
Pelicot admitted to knocking his wife of 50 years out with drugs so he and strangers recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults and stored them on a hard drive labeled 'abuse'.
The highly-publicised case saw details emerge that Gisèle was sedated against her will between 2011 and 2020.
He inserted sleeping pills and other drugs into her food, which made Gisèle unconscious.
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As well as the crimes against his ex-wife, Pelicot was also found guilty of the attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the co-accused, and taking indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Darian, as well as his daughters-in-law.
He is now behind bars after being sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
While a panel of five judges in France delivered the verdicts in December last year for the dozens men charged with aggravated rape and sexual assault on Gisèle, Darian told the judge at the time that she is the 'forgotten victim in this case'.
It was revealed earlier this year that the daughter was pressing ahead with charges against her father, including accusing him of drugging and raping her.
"I know that he drugged me, probably for sexual abuse. But I don't have any evidence," she told the BBC.
Pelicot has denied the claims made by his daughter, and Darian claims her mother never believed her.
Darian has been speaking to The Telegraph recently, where she revealed a heartbreaking six-word statement her mom apparently said to her during Pelicot's trial.
"You know what my mum said to me a couple of times in the courtyard outside during the trial? ‘Stop making a spectacle of yourself,'" Darian recalled.
"Right there is the difference between her and me," the daughter added.
Darian went on to say the public persona her mother had developed 'doesn’t have anything to do with me'.
She continued: "What I’m trying to say is that my mother isn’t an icon – not to me."
Darian revealed how she is no longer on speaking terms with Gisèle due to one particular incident.
"My mother let go of my hand in that courtroom," she explained. "She abandoned me.
"For four years I accompanied my mum everywhere. I supported her without ever judging her. And it wasn’t always easy because she didn’t want to hear what I was telling her about Dominique.
"But in that courtroom, she was supposed to help me.
"And that I can never forgive her for. Never."
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org
