The daughter of Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman found guilty of drugging and facilitating the rape of his ex-wife by dozens of strangers, has said her father “should die in prison”.
In her first television interview since Pelicot was jailed for 20 years in December, Caroline Darian told the BBC that her father “was always a sexual pervert”.
“He should die in prison, he is a dangerous man,” said Ms Darian, speaking in “Pelicot Trial: The Daughter’s Story” that will air on Monday.
Pelicot, 72, was convicted of drugging and raping Gisele Pelicot, and soliciting dozens of men to do the same for more than a decade.
Gisele Pelicot was drugged and raped by her husband and dozens of others between 2011 and 2020 – Guillaume Horcajuelo/Shutterstock
Some 50 co-defendants were also found guilty following a three-month public trial in the southern French city of Avignon and were handed sentences varying between three and 15 years.
Mrs Pelicot waived her right to a closed trial and was hailed as a hero for her courage and dignity.
In the BBC interview, Ms Darian continued: “There’s no way you can wake up one morning and say ‘okay, I’m gonna drug my wife’.
“So I think there are two Dominiques co-existing in him. He decided to choose the dark side.
“I don’t know if he is a monster but he perfectly knew what he did, he’s not sick. He did everything consciously.”
Ms Darian also said she believes that she was drugged and raped by Pelicot after pictures of her naked and unconscious body were found among the detailed records her father kept of his crimes.
Dominique Pelicot received a 20-year sentence for orchestrating the rape of his ex-wife – Reuters
However, Pelicot denied having ever abused her as the two clashed in the courtroom.
“He’s always lying,” Ms Darian told the BBC.
“I know that he drugged me, probably for sexual abuse, but I don’t have any evidence.”
Ms Darian added that she now sees her father as only “a stranger”.
“I look straight to the criminal, to the sexual criminal he is,” she said.
Ms Darian will narrate a TV documentary on the use of drugs to enable rape and sexual abuse. Set to be broadcast on France 2 on Jan 21, the 90-minute film will include testimony from six other victims raped after being drugged unwittingly.