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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.