In December, Gisèle Pélicot’s ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging her and orchestrating the rape of dozens of men in their home in France over nearly a decade.
Now, her daughter is voicing her own suspicions of abuse at the hands of the convicted rapist.
Unlike her mother’s case, there is currently no evidence regarding what Pélicot may have done to Darian.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Caroline Darian, the daughter of Gisèle and Dominique Pélicot, both 72, expressed her belief that her father also drugged her, suspecting that he intended to sexually abuse her, though she lacks concrete proof.
Darian, 46, explained that her suspicions began to arise when police showed her photographs that Dominique had taken of her while she was asleep.
Reflecting on the moment she saw the two images found on her father’s computer, which she had previously mentioned during her court testimony, Darian admitted she didn’t recognize herself at first. “I lived a dissociation effect. I had difficulties recognizing myself from the start,” she told the BBC of the photos, which, according to the outlet, show her unconscious in a bed, wearing just underwear and a shirt
“I lived a dissociation effect. I had difficulties recognizing myself from the start,” she told the BBC of the photos, which, according to the outlet, show her unconscious in a bed, wearing just underwear and a shirt.
“Then the police officer said, ‘Look, you have the same brown mark on your cheek … it’s you.’ I looked at those two photos differently then,” she recalled, adding that she also saw a similarity between the photos and those that were taken of Gisèle throughout the abuse she suffered at the hands of Dominique and other men.
“I was laying on my left side like my mother, in all her pictures,” said Darian
She stated that her relationship with Dominique has transformed from that of a father and daughter, making it hard for her to reflect on her childhood.
Darian rarely refers to the convicted rapist as her dad, and only does so by accident.
She described her father as “not sick,” but a “monster” who “knew perfectly well what he did,” and expressed the belief that he “should die in prison.”
Olekanma Favour is a resourceful, self-motivated, and result-driven writer with a passion for crafting compelling narratives and insightful content. She loves tackling complex topics and weaving engaging stories.
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