Latest news with #DominiquePelicot
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Clothes found at the scene of Sophie Narme's rape and murder have been lost, a lawyer says
Dominique Pelicot, the French man jailed last year for drugging and raping his wife, could avoid prosecution for a separate murder due to lost evidence, it has emerged. Police officers are not able to find clothes found at the scene of the murder of 23-year-old estate agent Sophie Narme, who was raped and strangled in 1991, according to Paris Match. Pelicot has been accused of being behind the attack, but has consistently denied responsibility. Florence Rault, the lawyer representing the victim's family, told the magazine that a search was carried out for the clothes at the beginning of this year, but 'no one has been able to get their hands on' them. The clothes could provide crucial DNA evidence for the case, by linking it to another attempted rape case from 1999 which Pelicot has admitted involvement in. In December, the 72-year-old was imprisoned for 20 years after inviting dozens of strangers he met online to rape his unconscious wife, Gisele Pelicot, who he had drugged in their home in Mazan for more than ten years. The trial gripped the world's attention after Ms Pelicot waived her anonymity, in an attempt to make the "shame swap sides". Two years after his initial arrest for taking upskirting photos of women in October 2020, Pelicot was accused of the 1991 rape and murder of Ms Narme and the attempted rape of another woman, 19, eight years later. Pelicot, who admitted to the crimes against his wife, has consistently denied the allegations relating to Ms Narme. Her murder took place on 4 December 1991, after she made her way to an appointment with a potential buyer who wanted a top floor flat, Paris Match reported. After she failed to return home, Ms Narme's mother alerted her employer, who sent someone to the apartment where she had been giving a viewing. She was found face down with her belt tied around her neck, after having been strangled to death and raped by her murderer. Three years ago, Pelicot admitted assaulting the other woman, also an estate agent, in a Parisian suburb in 1999. He was accused of pinning the woman to the floor of an apartment where she was due to be giving a viewing. Prosecutors said Pelicot threatened the unnamed woman with a box cutter, before forcing a cloth soaked in ether in an attempt to knock her out. The victim fought back until the assailant eventually fled. Pelicot has since retracted his confession in part and claimed there was no intention to rape the women, but instead to force her to show him her underwear. In 2004, a special software system found a link between the rape and murder of Sophie Narme and the attempted rape of the other woman, in terms of the attacker being alone, the victims being estate agents, and a product used by the attacker - ether - in both attacks, Paris Match reported. But attempts to link the cases using DNA had no result. Nearly two decades later, in 2022, after an investigating judge asked her team to re-explore the attempted rape case from 1999, a bombshell discovery was made. DNA extracted from a drop of blood from the woman's attacker, which was taken from the heels of one of her shoes, matched that of Dominique Pelicot. The cases are '85-90 per cent identical', Ms Rault said. 'Judge Turquey therefore ordered a joinder between the two cases." The loss of the clothes from the Sophie Narme case may hinder the prosecution's ability to irrefutably link the two cases. With new analysis techniques, new DNA evidence could have been found. Ms Rault said, in a letter to French justice minister Gerald Darmanin: "These seals have not been destroyed. They exist and must be effectively searched for and recovered by all means. Otherwise, this new loss would constitute a new cause of State liability."
Muscat Daily
14-07-2025
- Muscat Daily
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's highest civilian honour
Paris, France – Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose courage in publicly testifying about the decade-long sexual abuse she endured made her a symbol of women's rights in France, has received the country's highest civilian honour. Pelicot was named a knight of the Legion of Honor in a list published on Sunday, ahead of France's Bastille Day celebrations. She joins 588 others on this year's list. Case that shocked France Pelicot gained international recognition after she testified against her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, who had drugged and raped her and invited strangers to assault her for more than a decade. Dominique Pelicot was convicted last year of aggravated rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a landmark ruling, a court in Avignon sentenced his 50 co-defendants to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Encouraging survivors of sexual assault The case shocked France and reignited a national debate over sexual violence and legal protections for victims. Pelicot, who insisted the trial be held publicly, has been praised for helping push for reforms in France's rape laws. Following the trial, the French Senate passed a bill that includes a lack of consent in the country's criminal definition of rape. In her closing statement at the trial of the 51 men accused of raping her, Pelicot said: 'It's time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape changes… It's time we changed the way we look at rape.' DW
Times of Oman
14-07-2025
- Times of Oman
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's highest civilian honour
Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose courage in publicly testifying about the decade-long abuse she endured made her a symbol of women's rights in France, has received the country's highest civilian honor. Pelicot was named a knight of the Legion of Honor in a list published Sunday, ahead of France's Bastille Day celebrations. She joins 588 others on this year's list. Case that shocked France Pelicot gained international recognition after she testified against her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, who had drugged and raped her and invited strangers to assault her for more than a decade. Dominique Pelicot was convicted last year of aggravated rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a landmark ruling, a court in Avignon sentenced his 50 co-defendants to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. Pelicot encourages survivors of sexual assault The case shocked France and reignited a national debate over sexual violence and legal protections for victims. Pelicot, who insisted the trial be held publicly, has been praised for helping push for reforms in France's rape laws. Following the trial, the French Senate passed a bill that includes a lack of consent in the country's criminal definition of rape. In her closing statement at the trial of the 51 men accused of raping her, Pelicot said, "It's time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape changes… It's time we changed the way we look at rape."
DW
14-07-2025
- DW
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's highest civilian honor – DW – 07/14/2025
Pelicot's landmark case led to reforms in France's rape laws after she bravely testified about enduring a decade of sexual abuse. Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose courage in publicly testifying about the decade-long sexual abuse she endured made her a symbol of women's rights in France, has received the country's highest civilian honor. Pelicot was named a knight of the Legion of Honor in a list published Sunday, ahead of France's Bastille Day celebrations. She joins 588 others on this year's list. Pelicot gained international recognition after she testified against her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, who had drugged and raped her and invited strangers to assault her for more than a decade. Dominique Pelicot was convicted last year of aggravated rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a landmark ruling, a court in Avignon sentenced his 50 co-defendants to prison terms ranging from three to 15 years. The case shocked France and reignited a national debate over sexual violence and legal protections for victims. Pelicot, who insisted the trial be held publicly, has been praised for helping push for reforms in France's rape laws. Following the trial, the French Senate passed a bill that includes a lack of consent in the country's criminal definition of rape. In her closing statement at the trial of the 51 men accused of raping her, Pelicot said, "It's time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape changes… It's time we changed the way we look at rape." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
BBC News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's Legion of Honour
Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who earned international recognition after publicly testifying at her mass-rape trial last year, has been given France's top 72-year-old was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's Bastille waived her right to anonymity during the high-profile trial against her husband who had drugged and raped her, in addition to inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a was among 589 other people given France's highest award on Sunday. She attended almost every day of the trial, which ended last December with Dominique Pelicot, 72, being given a maximum 20 years in jail for aggravated rape, after confessing to drugging her and recruiting around 50 men to rape her while she lay comatose in bed."I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too," Pelicot previously told reporters, adding that she wanted to make "shame swap sides" from the victim to the President Emmanuel Macron has publicly paid tribute to Pelicot as a trailblazer, adding that her "dignity and courage moved and inspired France and the world".According to her lawyer, a memoir detailing Gisèle Pelicot's story in her own words will be published early next year.
