Paris

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Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot, who was the victim of the mass drugging-and-rape case that was orchestrated by her former husband Dominique Pelicot, gave her first reaction on Thursday (Dec 19) after 51 men, including Dominique, were found guilty in the trial.

“I want you to know that we share the same fight,” the 72-year-old Gisele told reporters in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years in the shocking case that stunned France and spurred a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture.

Also watch | France mass rape trial: Who are the 51 men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot?

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Gisele expressed gratitude towards the people who supported her. “Your messages moved me deeply, and they gave me the strength to come back, every day, and survive through these long daily hearings,” she added.

The case and the court's verdict

On Thursday, Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison over drugging Gisele and allowing a mass rape (of the woman) by strangers recruited online. The crime went on for almost a decade.

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Apart from Pelicot, 50 other men were found guilty. 

The dozens of other defendants were handed terms of up to 15 years, which women's rights groups and the three Pelicot children, according to a source, condemned as too lenient, a report by the news agency AFP said.

They received jail terms of between three and 15 years, but this was in all cases less than what prosecutors had demanded and, in some cases, even half. Two of the defendants had their jail terms suspended. 

Also watch | WION Dispatch- France mass rape trial: All defendants convicted

Under the terms of the sentencing, six accused were allowed to walk free from the court. Only the sentence given to Dominique Pelicot was fully in line with what the prosecutors demanded. 

A family member told AFP that the three Pelicot children "are disappointed by these low sentences." There was "no question" of any of the children wanting to speak to their father after the conviction, the family member said.

Gisele becomes a feminist hero at home

The trial garnered immense interest in the wake of Giesele's decision to allow the trial to be open to the public from the outset and waive her right to anonymity.

She has become a feminist hero at home and abroad for refusing to be ashamed, waiving her right to a closed trial, and standing up to her aggressors in court.

(With inputs from agencies)