Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to open up the original trial to the public and the media attracted worldwide attention on her story – but as soon as the verdicts came in she retreated back to private life.
This week was the first time she was seen in public since then.
When she took the stand on Wednesday she recalled the unexplained neurological symptoms and memory loss she had suffered for months, without realising they were the side effects of the drugs Pelicot had plied her with.
She again stressed she had no knowledge of what her husband subjected her to.
“The first time I saw [Dogan’s] face was when I saw the videos of him raping me,” she stated. “They are forever etched in my memory.”
“The first time around, this man never accepted to recognise that he had raped me. But I thought that over the course of a year he had gained some introspection,” she said.
Turning to Dogan, she added: “You don’t understand that this was rape. When will you admit that it’s a crime? I am ashamed for you.”
She also addressed the devastation that had engulfed her family since the trial.
Her daughter, Caroline Darian, maintains she too was drugged and abused by her father after photos showing her unconscious were found on Pelicot’s computer.
Ms Darian has since spoken about feeling unsupported by her mother. The two are reportedly no longer in contact and Ms Darian was not in court with Gisèle this week.
“My family is trying to rebuild itself however it can,” Gisèle said. “I hope [Caroline] finds the answers she is looking for. I hope one day we can find each other again.”
She also asked to stop being referred to as an icon. “I am an ordinary woman who dared to open up her trial,” she said. “I have become an icon against my will.”
As in the original trial, Gisèle ended her statement with a thought for other victims of rape – the majority of whom did not have the wealth of evidence that she had to bring her abusers to court.
“I want to say to them to never be ashamed of what was inflicted upon us, because it is not their fault,” she said.