Man accused of drugging wife to be raped thought of himself as a good husband’

Dominique Pelicot is described as having a split personality

- PETER ALLEN

A retired electrician accused of repeatedly drugging his wife so dozens of strangers could rape her considered himself to be a “good husband”, a trial heard yesterday.

But Dominique Pelicot also had a split personality, making him a “very caring and much-loved grandfather by day” and a rapist at night, psychologist Bruno Daunizeau wrote in his report read out to the court in Avignon in France.

Dr Daunizeau compared Mr Pelicot, 71 – who faces up to 20 years in prison over the aggravated rape of his wife, Gisele Pelicot, also 71 – to Jekyll and Hyde; the Gothic horror character with a split personality.

Ms Pelicot has waived her right to anonymity so that the public could hear the case, which has drawn worldwide attention. Last week, she told the court she was “sacrificed on the altar of vice” as she revealed how she discovered her husband had filmed the alleged rapes by dozens of men while she was unconscious, storing thousands of images that police investigators later found.