Paris

Trigger warning: Some readers may find the details of this report disturbing. Discretion is advised.

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A French man is accused of recruiting dozens of men online to sexually assault his wife while drugging her to lose her senses. The man, a 71-year-old ex-employee at France's power utility EDF, is going on trial in the case, along with 50 other men accused of raping the elderly woman.

French rape horror: What happened?

One of the woman's lawyers, Antoine Camus, said that she endured rapes for over 10 years and because she was sedated, she was not aware of her ordeal in real time. 

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"She is completely determined to face them and her husband, with whom she lived for 50 years but whom she knew nothing about, as she discovered at 68," the lawyer was quoted as saying by CBS News in its report.

The sexual abuse began in 2011 when the couple was living near Paris. It went on till they shifted to Mazan, about 700 km south of the French capital. 

Also watch | Kolkata Rape: The fight against anti-women violence | Gravitas

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The man used a website to hire strangers to sexually assault his wife, chat logs discovered by the police showed. 

The husband gave the woman powerful tranquillisers, including anxiety-reducing drugs.

He also reportedly told the men not to wake her up when they abused her during the night.

Amongst other instructions, no aftershave or cigarette odour was allowed by the accused husband. They had to warm their hands before touching her and get undressed in the kitchen so they would not leave their clothes behind in the bathroom.

According to the prosecutors, the suspect also took part in the rapes, recorded them, and encouraged other men to use abusive language.

French police's investigation

In September 2020, the French police began probing the woman's husband, after he was caught secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping center.

The police searched his computer, where they discovered thousands of images and videos of his wife. In the images and the videos, she was unconscious. The recordings revealed multiple incidents of rape. The abuse occurred in their home in Mazan.

Also read | France: Husband accused of 'drugging' wife, inviting 51 strangers to rape her over a decade

The police identified 72 men involved in 92 cases of rape, with 51 suspects formally detained. The accused are aged between 21 to 68 years old and hold diverse professions, including a forklift driver, fire officer, company executive, and journalist. 

The public trial in the case is slated to run till December.