Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.
A man who sought to overturn his conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot has had his sentence increased by a court in Southern France.
Gisèle’s former husband, Dominique Pelicot, confessed to drugging his wife of 50 years, enabling himself and strangers he found online to assault her while he recorded the incidents and stored them on a hard drive labeled ‘abuse’.
The case, which received significant media attention, revealed that Gisèle was drugged against her will over a period spanning from 2011 to 2020.
Dominique Pelicot added sleeping pills and other substances to her food, rendering Gisèle unconscious.
In addition to his crimes against Gisèle, Pelicot was convicted of the attempted aggravated rape of a co-defendant’s wife and for capturing indecent images of his daughter, Caroline Darian, as well as his daughters-in-law.
He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Husamettin Dogan, 44, maintained his innocence, claiming he could not have raped Gisèle because he was unaware she had been drugged by her husband.
During proceedings in Nîmes, footage of the rape shown in last year’s trial was revisited, depicting an unconscious Gisèle, unresponsive and snoring, while being subjected to horrific abuse.
Despite appearing in the footage, Dogan denied intent to rape Gisèle.
“I performed a sexual act, I never raped anyone,” he said, according to the BBC. “For me, rape means forcing someone, tying them up, I don’t know… I am a victim.”
Gisèle, speaking in court, stated she never consented to the acts.
“The first time I saw [Dogan’s] face was when I saw the videos of him raping me,” she said. “They are forever etched in my memory.”
“The first time around, this man never accepted to recognise that he had raped me. But I thought that over the course of a year he had gained some introspection.”
Addressing Dogan directly in court, Gisèle said: “You don’t understand that this was rape. When will you admit that it’s a crime? I am ashamed for you.”
The court of appeal in Nîmes dismissed Dogan’s defense and increased his nine-year sentence to ten years after confirming his guilt in aggravated rape last December.
A total of 50 other men were convicted of rape in connection with the case.