France mass rape case: Hundreds join silent march in support of Gisele Pelicot

Hundreds of people joined for a silent march in support of French woman Gisele Pelicot and other female victims of sexual violence on Saturday (Oct 5) in Mazan, the village where Gisele’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting over 80 men to rape her at their home.

Men and women came out in solidarity with Gisele, 72. However, members of the woman's family did not attend the march but said that they appreciated the public support.

One woman at the march said, “I am there as a woman, mother and grandmother … I am here firstly to support Gisèle who is really very brave, and other women and girls.”

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She said she hoped the case would persuade people to "listen to women...and not close their eyes" to sexual abuse.

The march by French people comes a day after judges at the mass rape trial in Avignon agreed to allow videos made by Dominique Pelicot of the alleged abuse of his wife to be shown to the press and public in the courtroom.

The president of the bench, Roger Arata, argued the court should be cleared of those not directly involved in the case because the videos represented an affront to public decency and were too "shocking".

The bench agreed to allow them to be screened in open court after Pelicot's lawyers insisted their client wanted them shown.

Gisele was drugged to the point, that she had no memory of the rapes and said that the videos are proof of what she suffered.

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Meanwhile, as the case continues, a majority of 50 men accused of rapingGiselehave denied the charge and said that they thought she was pretending to be asleep and they had acted with the consent of her husband.

Giselewas drugged by her now-former husband Dominique into a 'deep coma' state between 2011 and 2020. He then invited men to rape her in her bedroom in southern France.

The accused, 50 men in total, are aged 26 to 74 and include a fireman, jailor, nurse and journalist.

(With inputs from agencies)