Berliner Tageblatt - 'You will die in lies!': daughter clashes with father at French rape trial

Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.

In a closing statement, Dominique Pelicot again admitted to the accusations, saying that his "motive" was wanting to satisfy a "fantasy".

"I came to do what I did through people who willingly accepted what I proposed," he told the court.

Dominique Pelicot, as in previous statements, went back to his past, saying that he was affected throughout his life by a rape he said he suffered at the age of nine in hospital, and then at the age of 14 being forced to witness the gang-rape of a young girl at a building site.

"I don't know when I'll get out, but if I do get out (of prison), I don't have any plans. What saddens me the most is that people think I'm capable of certain things that I'm not capable of doing," he added.

Family lawyer Antoine Camus then interjected that Dominique Pelicot's daughter Caroline Darian, joined in court by her brothers David and Florian, needed an "audible and human response" to the actions she says she is "convinced" she suffered at his hands.

Caroline Darian, a pen name, in 2022, wrote a book "Et j'ai cesse de t'appeler papa" ("And I stopped calling you dad"). She believes she was also assaulted by her father who took intimate photographs of her.

"I am not going to try to convince her with perverse answers," Dominique Pelicot replied.

"I don't remember taking these photos. I tell her straight in the eyes that I never touched her."

He then turned to her directly and said: "Caroline, I have never done anything to you."

But she interrupted, saying: "You lie, you don't have the courage to tell the truth! Even about your ex-wife!"

"You will die in lies! Alone, alone in lies Dominique Pelicot!", she continued before being interrupted by judge Roger Arata.

Nude photos taken without her knowledge and photomontages of Caroline Darian with lewd titles were found on her father's hard drive. In some, she appears asleep, sometimes wearing her mother's underwear.

A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large.

O.Krause--BTB