No sentence severe enough for ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot, say residents of town where mass rape occurred

"It's horrible what happened to that woman."

It may be the annual Christmas market in Mazan's central square, with life seemingly going on as normal, but a dark cloud has been looming over this small French town.

It was in Mazan where Dominique Pelicot, by his own admission in court, invited dozens of men he recruited online over to his home to rape his wife Gisèle Pelicot after he drugged her. Fifty-one in all are accused.

The trial in nearby Avignon adjourned on Monday ahead of verdicts expected later this week. Since the hearings began in early September, they've captivated the nation, even the world.

That's in part due to the sordid details, but largely because Gisèle Pelicot, 71, waived her right to anonymity, putting a name and a face to a victim, a decision so rarely seen.

"We're waiting impatiently for the sentences to come down," said 52-year-old Yannick Richard from his kiosk. The retiree is selling knitted stuffed animals and sweaters at the market.

"We really have to mark the occasion. We can't let it go by with little sentences."

Gisèle Pelicot became an icon for those fighting against sexual violence for testifying about the harrowing events, in which she was rendered unconscious by her now ex-husband, who invited strangers into their home to rape her, between 2011 and 2020.

"When she took the decision to open the trial to the public, she did it because she felt that it was necessary for the public to understand what happened to her. She never did it because she wanted attention," Pelicot's lawyer Stéphane Babonneau said after the trial had adjourned.

In Mazan, though, few want to talk about the case. Most of the citizens in the town of about 6,000 are fed up, angry that their home has become synonymous with rape.

Those who do talk try to steer away from the details, instead highlighting the beauty of their village. 

'I find it appalling'

"As a Mazanaise, I don't have too much of an opinion on the case. It's very tragic what happened to that lady. As a woman, I find it appalling," said 58-year-old singer Poline de Peretti, who has lived in the village for 18 years.

"The rapist of Mazan? No, no, no. It's the story of Madame Pelicot and the family Pelicot. I would really like to invite you to visit our village. The people are charming." 

Still, de Peretti can't help but give an opinion.

"It's Madame Pelicot, but it could be Madame anybody. You or me. We don't know."

House of horrors

The first thing you'll notice about the home at the centre of France's worst-ever rape case are the blue shutters. Blue shutters on a cream-coloured bungalow with a terracotta roof.

An ordinary home where anything but ordinary went on inside.

There, just a 10-minute walk from the main square, is where Dominique Pelicot says he would invite the men to come and rape his wife, all the while filming it.

He has pleaded guilty, and in his testimony explained that he would tell the men to park at a nearby sports field parking lot, so as not to raise suspicion. 

They would then walk, under the cover of darkness, the 100 metres or so to the home on a dead-end street.

"The notoriety of the village, a wonderful small village like this — it's broken by this type of person, this type of attitude," said Christian Lhermitte, who has lived in Mazan only the past five months.

"I think that justice will be served."

His wife Hugues Lhermitte interrupts him.

"I don't think the punishments will be severe enough, that's certain."

One after another all but one of the defendants went up to the microphone to speak on Monday. Dominique Pelicot, 72, was first. His voice was feeble and halting.

'Hailing the courage of my ex-wife'

In his final statement to the court, he said he would "like to start by hailing the courage of my ex-wife," and asked for forgiveness from his family.

Most of the other men simply said, "I have nothing to add."

A few proclaimed their innocence — which received audibly scoffs from members of the public watching from the spillover room where the courtroom was on display via TV.

Walking out of the courtroom with Babonneau, Gisèle Pelicot received applause and stopped to speak to a few women who have been supporting her.

Babonneau said every society is struggling with questions around rape, adding that his client "really wanted for everyone to understand that there is no such thing as one rape, one type of rape, one type of rapist."

"Everyone loved Dominique Pelicot for years. He was beloved father, beloved husband, grandfather, colleague, and still is probably one of the worst sexual criminals of the past 50 years in France," he said.

Babonneau said the trial highlighted a universal message that consent is needed before a sexual act — and that French criminal law defines rape as an act of sexual penetration of someone using violence, coercion, threat, "or what we call surprise."

He said while the word consent doesn't appear in the law, Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious while being sexually assaulted, "so the rape was committed by surprise."

Last month, prosecutors asked the panel of judges for the maximum possible penalty of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape against Dominique Pelicot and terms of 10 to 18 years against the other defendants facing the same charge, if found guilty.

The presiding judge told the court Monday that the verdicts are to be delivered on Thursday, but could be postponed to Friday morning.