Daughter whose mum was raped by 72 men reveals moment ‘perfect’ family was torn apart when dad’s sick depravity revealed

THE gut-wrenching moment the daughter of a man who allegedly orchestrated 72 men to rape his wife was told about her mum’s horrors has been revealed.

Caroline Darian, 46, spoke in court today as she slammed dad Dominique Pélicot for tearing their “perfect” family apart after the sick accusations came to light.

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Gisele Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian pictured while leaving the criminal court in Avignon, France[/caption]

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Dominique Pélicot is accused of recruiting men online to assault his wife repeatedly over 10 years while snapping her own daughter naked[/caption]

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Victim Gisèle Pélicot (C) sitting in court alongside her daughter Caroline (L)[/caption]

Caroline with her brother FlorianEPA

Mr Pélicot, 71, has been hauled into court this week accused of “aggravated rape” of wife Gisèle Pélicot.

The dad-of-three allegedly drugged Gisèle repeatedly over a nine year period before allowing men he met online to rape her.

He now faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

Brave Caroline took to the stand in the French court today and described her father “one of the greatest sexual predators” of all time.

She also revealed the shocking moment her mum first told her of the harrowing ordeal.

Caroline said: “On November 2, 2020, at 8:35 p.m. my life literally changed.

“My mother told me, ‘I spent a good part of the day at the police station, your father was drugging me to rape me with strangers’.”

Gisèle was told by cops how she was allegedly drugged unconscious through substances placed in her food before being abused by dozens of men.

She said she doesn’t know how she survived the atrocities allegedly caused by a man who she thought was the love of her life.

After the fateful phone call back in 2020 Caroline says the first thing she did was call her two brothers.

“We were helpless, we cried, we didn’t understand,” she admitted.

The following day the three shocked siblings went down to the police station in Carpentras to speak to cops.

Caroline described David as “white and stoic” before saying their little brother Florian collapsed upon hearing as many as 50 men were believed to have raped their mum.

The number has since increased to 72 after four more years of investigations.

The court case which has rocked France also revealed how Caroline was secretly photographed in the nude by her father, as were her two sisters-in-law while taking a bath.

This was at the same family home in Mazan, some 20 miles from Avignon, where Mr Pélicot had invited the men to rape her wife.

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Caroline Darian (R) in tears while leaving the criminal court in Avignon[/caption]

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Ms Gisèle was subjected to severe sexual abuse by her husband and dozens of other strangers[/caption]

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The sick crimes were uncovered by police after Ms Gisèle had no memory of being raped[/caption]

Caroline is convinced that – like her mother – she was routinely drugged so that her father could sexually assault her.

She told the court: “[My father] was one person in whom I had total confidence, who I thought had integrity, who respected his daughter, who was proud of her, and who had always encouraged her.

“But then I discovered that in fact, my father had photographed me without my knowledge, naked.”

A tearful Ms Darian revealed how she felt when she saw her nude photographs for the first time.

She said she saw a woman – who she later found was herself – lying on a side all naked.

The photos taken of her were in a file entitled “around my daughter, naked”.

‘TORTURE CHAMBER’

Police found images on Mr Pélicot’s camera and laptop that showed multiple alleged rapes of his wife between 2011 and 2020.

Ms Pélicot had remained silent during the first three days of the rape trial but took the stands yesterday to speak about the harrowing case.

The brave mum stood tall and faced dozens of men accused of sexually assaulting her while she allegedly lay unconscious.

Ms Pélicot said she does not know how she survived the atrocities that spanned over nine years by her husband who she thought was the love of her life.

She described the bedroom where she was raped as a “torture chamber”.

“I don’t know how I survived … I ask myself how I am standing before you,” she told the court.

The mum even said she could have never “imagined” she was drugged “even for a single second”.

“I lost 10 years of my life. Those are years I will never get back.”

Ms Pelicot revealed she thought of taking her own life, but with the support of her family and children, she gathered the courage to build a new life and identity.

Ms Pélicot could have chosen to stay anonymous and let the trial happen behind closed doors under French laws.

But she decided to come out and speak of the horror she faced as she told the court “no woman should suffer” what she did.

She told the court in a composed manner: “If other women [in France] wake up with no memory, they might remember my testimony.

“No woman should suffer from being drugged and victimised. We must address this scourge”.

The mum also described the moment her daughter found out about the allegations that her husband had drugged her before organising the rapes.

Ms Pélicot said: “When I told my daughter, she screamed like a wild beast. I will never forget this.

‘When I told my sons about this, I don’t think they really understood, they were withdrawn and didn’t react much. I think they were in a state of shock. They said don’t say such silly things.

“That evening, the children rang all the time saying don’t disappear – they were worried I might die.”

Mr Pélicot was first caught in September 2020, when he was arrested for secretly filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.

His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members.

It was while in custody that Mr Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called “Abuses”.

It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.

The investigators counted around 200 instances of rape, most of them by Ms Pelicot’s husband and more than 90 by strangers.

Investigators drew up a list of 72 suspects besides the husband, and have so far managed to identify 50 of them, aged between 26 and 74.

All those 50 men alongside Mr Pelicot are on trial.

The alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.

The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21.

Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.

Dominique allegedly gave the dozens of men a series of sick rules on ‘how to rape his wife’