New Delhi: The daughter of Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman convicted of drugging his former wife and enabling her rape by multiple men, in a BBC interview expressed that she believed her father “should die in prison”.
For the first time since her father was sentenced to 20 years in prison in December last year, Caroline Darian spoke publicly, calling him “a dangerous man”. “He should die in prison,” Darian said during a programme titled ‘Pelicot Trial: The Daughter’s Story’, which will be aired on Monday. Seventy-two-year-old Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of drugging and raping his former wife, Gisele Pelicot, and facilitating assaults on her by dozens of men over a period of more than a decade.
Carried out in Avignon, the trial involved 50 co-defendants who were handed sentences ranging from three to 15 years. Gisele Pelicot, who opted for an open trial, has been lauded for her strength and resilience throughout the legal proceedings.
‘He’s not sick. He did everything consciously’
Speaking about her father’s misdeeds, Darian said, “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.” She pointed out, “I don’t know if he is a monster, but he perfectly knew what he did. He’s not sick. He did everything consciously.”
Darian added that she believes her father drugged and raped her, even though she said she lacked direct evidence. In course of the trial, photographs of her naked and unconscious body were found among the records her father maintained of his crimes. Dominique Pelicot denied the allegations, which led to arguments between the two in the court.
“He’s always lying,” Darian underlined, adding: “I know that he drugged me, probably for sexual abuse, but I don’t have any evidence”. Darian said she now sees her father as “a stranger”. She said, “I look straight to the criminal, to the sexual criminal he is.”
The interview precedes a TV documentary narrated by Darian, which explores the use of drugs to facilitate rape and sexual abuse. The programme, scheduled to air on France 2 on January 21, will feature testimonies from six other victims who were assaulted after being drugged unknowingly.
