"The horror of it' Trial of husband and 50 men accused of wife's rape shakes France

On the narrow streets of stone houses with pastel-blue shutters, residents of Mazan were appalled that this picturesque village in Provence was being referred to in the media as "the village of the rapists".

- Angelique Chrisafis

France has been shaken to its core this week by the trial of Dominique Pelicot, a former estate agent who in retirement had moved from the Paris area to this southern village, where he is accused of drugging his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and recruiting men to rape her when she was unconscious in her bedroom over a period of nine years between 2011 and 2020.

A total of 50 men are on trial for alleged rape alongside Pelicot. They are accused of travelling to commit rape at night at the Pelicots' house, which sits tucked away on a deadend lane at the edge of the village.

Aged from 26 to 74, the men include a prison warden, a journalist, a nurse, a fire officer, a soldier, lorry drivers and shop workers. Many lived in the southern department of Vaucluse within a 12-mile drive of Mazan, but some came from further afield.

Pelicot, who admits the drugging and rape, said he had never had any problem recruiting.

Some of the men admit rape but say they had not intended to do it; others deny the charges, saying they believed they were taking part in a game organised by the couple.

Another 30 suspects who could not be identified from videos are thought to be still at large.

"The absolute horror of it," said a retired teacher, 76, who was born in Mazan and taught at the local school. "How could so many people have been involved without anyone knowing it was happening?"