Inside the rape case that shocked France and exposed a sinister online world

Nabila Ramdani is a French journalist and academic of Algerian descent, and author of Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic, published by PublicAffairs and Hurst

September 7, 2024 6:00 AM(Updated 06:01 am)

When Dominique Pélicot was reportedly surfing the Internet to contact potential rapists to visit his family home and rape his wife, one specific website appeared in his searches.

The retired electrician, now 71, is said to have used a chat room called A son Insuwhich can best be translated as “without their knowledge”.

It was part of a larger platform called Coco, which was taken down in June when authorities from six European countries raided servers in Germany and disconnected them, while freezing €5.6 million (£4.7 million) in criminal funds, according to Eurojust, the European Union’s criminal justice agency.

“The leaders of this mafia online platform have been arrested,” said Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, who explained that officials first tried to shut down Coco in 2017.

Now the website is back in the news as it becomes central to the case that has shocked France, exposing the online “lawless zone” that relatives of the alleged victim believe could spread elsewhere.

In one of the worst abuse trials in the country’s history, 71-year-old Dominique Pélicot is on trial in Avignon along with 51 other men accused of attacking his wife, Gisèle Pélicot, also 71.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Pélicot added high doses of anti-anxiety drugs to his wife’s meals for nearly 10 years because they acted as a sedative.

As she lay unconscious and in a near-coma in their bedroom, strangers he had contacted online arrived to rape the mother of three.

Mr Pélicot, a retired electrician, filmed most of the attacks, providing evidence that has shocked and outraged the world. Detectives have recorded a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, including 51 suspects in addition to Mr Pélicot.

Eighteen of the suspects, including Mr Pélicot, are in custody, while 32 others are attending the trial as free men. A 51st man is being tried in absentia. If found guilty, most of them face up to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.

The allegations first came to light in September 2020, when Mr Pélicot was arrested in a supermarket for “upskirting”.

Stéphane Babonneau, one of the lawyers representing Ms Pélicot, said the case was partly “a trial about society and the place of women in French society”.

The ease with which Mr Pélicot is said to have found potential rapists online and brought them to the family home in Mazan, near Avignon, is causing much introspection in the country.

In France, a relaxed attitude towards sex between strangers is seen as part of a revolutionary spirit, and even of the values ​​of the Enlightenment, which rejected the strict moral teachings of the Catholic Church and its allies.

Such a view remains popular in modern France. Cities like Paris are home to expensive libertine clubs, where couples go to swap partners, and this business model now extends to countless cyberspace pick-up points.

However, these sites, such as Coco, have been found to host a range of criminal activities and have been linked to unspeakable crimes ranging from blackmail and paedophilia to – as alleged in the Avignon case – rape.

When Coco was eventually closed, it was linked to activities including child pornography, sexual exploitation, drug trafficking and ambushes, Eurojust said. The French Ministry of Justice linked it to 23,051 criminal actions in 70 prosecutors’ offices in the country.

The daughter of Dominique and Gisele Pélicot – who uses the pseudonym Caroline Darian – fears that the site will reappear under a different name.

Mrs. Darian, who wrote a book about the consequences of the alleged crimes for her family, Et J’ai Cesse de T’appeler Papa (‘And I Stopped Calling You Dad’) called for stricter global legislation for sites like Coco that simply restart under a different name and in a different jurisdiction after closing.

In her book, she wrote that the chat rooms provided clear explanations of how to “rape a woman without her knowledge, using drugs.”

She called for stronger global legislation, saying: “Today, in the era we live in, I don’t think we can leave this lawless zone. What are we waiting for?”

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The ease with which Mr Pélicot is said to have abused his wife, and dozens of other men, has led to protests, including from feminist groups outside the Vaucluse court where the trial is taking place.

Ms. Pélicot has decided to waive her legal right to anonymity in this case, hoping that widespread publicity will help prevent future crimes.

Giving evidence on Thursday, she thanked the police officer who first arrested her husband in 2020, saying: “He saved my life and without him I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Recalling the day her adult children first heard about the alleged crimes, Mrs. Pélicot said: “When I told my daughter, she screamed like a wild animal. I will never forget that.”

Mr Pélicot admitted to many of the charges against him after being held in custody for four years. Fourteen of the other suspects have confessed to aggravated rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.

In the coming months, the suspects will appear in small groups before a panel of five judges. Next week, Mr. Pelicot will speak.

Psychologists, psychiatrists and computer experts will also testify.