Horror moment Monster of Avignon is caught ‘upskirting women’ at supermarket before recruiting 72 men to rape his wife 

THIS is the moment a man on trial for drugging his wife and recruiting strangers to rape her was caught upskirting women in a supermarket.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, was arrested after a security guard spotted him filming up the skirts of several women in 2020.

Dominique Pelicot is seen upskirting women in a video filmed in 2020

Footage shows the camera panning to the back of a woman before Pelicot films under her skirt

At one point on the video someone shouts out ‘Come on, police!’

Dominique Pelicot (C) who confessed to recruiting men to rape his sedated wife

Cops would later find horrific footage on his devices of his wife – as he admitted to drugging and letting some 72 strangers rape her in a case that has shocked the country.

The French OAP and some 50 others could be thrown behind bars for up to 20 years, having been charged with the “aggravated rape” of Gisele.

Now, Paris Match magazine has published disturbing video of Pelicot being caught in a supermarket in Carpentras four years ago.

Filmed on September 12 2020, it shows the white haired grandfather wearing a mask as he places a camera below the skirts of victims in the Leclerc store.

A security guard confronts him as one woman is heard saying “No, no, no,” after four shoppers complained.

Pelicot, who is dressed in red shorts and a grey T-shirt, is told “not to move” because the police are on their way.

He is told that he is “disgusting” and that women are being asked to testify against him to the authorities.

Pelicot is also ordered not to erase the videos while he waits for police to arrive.

He was originally fined €100 – around £85 – for upskirting, as a part of a plea-bargaining process, before detectives found more incriminating images on his devices.

It was while in custody that he told police about a hard drive, hidden under a printer at his home in Mazan, near Avignon, which contained a file labelled “abuses”.

It included the nicknames and phone numbers of alleged rapists, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of his wife Gisele Pelicot, 71, being raped between 2011 and 2020.

Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified aged between 26 and 73.

Pelicot’s sex ring involved advertising for “sex partners” on an online forum called “Without Her Knowing” on the coco.fr site, which has since been shut down.

PElicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her dinners.

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

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

Last week, Pelicot’s legal team insisted he was not well enough to give evidence because of abdominal pain and a suspected bladder infection.

He briefly appeared in court on Wednesday morning, but defence barrister Beatrice Zavarro said on Thursday that he was unwell and would not be showing up.

Pelicot has been vomiting and fainting in his prison cell, where he has been on remand since 2020, in between visits to hospital for treatment and tests.

Ms Zavarro’s submissions were accepted by Roger Arata, the trial judge, who said: “He requires medical treatment and will be unable to attend court for the rest of this week at least.”

Pelicot’s own daughter, Caroline Darian, 46, described him in court as “one of the greatest sexual predators” of recent years.

She said he secretely photographed her in the nude, along with her two sister-in-laws.

In a separate case, Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.

He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.

The Avignon aggravated rape case involving his ex-wife Gisele is due to last until December 21.

Gisele Pelicot, 71, at court

The video shows him holding a camera down low before he places it under a woman’s skirt

A court sketch shows Dominique Pelicot at the courthouse in Avignon

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

Gisele Pelicot (R), accompanied by her sons David (C) and Florian (L), who are set to take the stand today