Avignon, France — A French man on trial for recruiting strangers to rape his drugged wife has been hospitalized, his lawyer said Tuesday, in a development that raises the possibility of the trial being postponed. Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old pensioner who was due to face initial questioning later on Tuesday, was hospitalized earlier in the day, his lawyer Beatrice Zavarro told the court.
Judge Roger Arata ordered an investigation into the suspect and stressed that he could request a stay of the trial, “until his (the suspect’s health condition) improves.”
Pelicot has been on trial since last week for repeatedly raping and enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife in her own bed between 2011 and 2020. Fifty other men, aged 26 to 74, are also on trial for alleged involvement in the case, which has shocked France.
His ex-wife and victim Gisele Pelicotalso 71, says she suffered from strange memory loss for years until police discovered the abuse by chance after her husband was caught filming upskirts of women at a local supermarket. Dominique Pelicot, who has admitted the charges against him, was due to be questioned Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday he was excused from the hearing due to abdominal pain and on Tuesday morning he was still in poor health, the examining magistrate said.
“Medical staff took samples for analysis yesterday and do not yet have the results. Mr Pelicot is said to still be unwell. I will request emergency assistance during the day,” he said, adding that he could be forced to suspend the hearings for a few days if the main suspect’s health does not improve.
Experts described Dominique Pelicot in court on Monday as an egocentric manipulator with no empathy and a split personality.
His lawyer Zavarro said her client was looking forward to “explaining” what he had done.
Stephane Babonneau, the lawyer for Gisele Pelicot and her adult children, said it was “absolutely necessary for Mr. Pelicot to receive medical treatment and to be able to attend the arguments” in court.
Gisele “Pelicot and her children don’t want to be heard without his presence,” Babonneau said.
An investigator and an IT expert were scheduled to speak in court Tuesday in place of the scheduled testimony of the main suspect.
Pelicot kept meticulous records of his wife’s abuse, including videos, all of which were found by police, who confiscated his computer and other equipment.
Most of the alleged rapes took place at the Pelicots’ home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 people in the southern region of Provence.
Their daughter Caroline Darian, 45, has said her life was “literally turned upside down” when she learned of the alleged abuse, which also included nude photo montages of her found on his computer. said in court last week that her father was “probably one of the worst sex criminals of the last 20 years.”
The couple’s two sons had yet to appear in court.
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