French man admits decade-long abuse of wife
China DailyThis courtsketch created on Sept 17 shows defendant Dominique Pelicot during his trial at the courthouse of Avignon in Avignon, France. Dominique Pelicot, the 71-year-old French man accused of drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over a period of nearly a decade, confessed in court on Tuesday to his guilt for the various criminal charges he faces. The white-haired grandfather appeared in the dock at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, where he is on trial alongside 50 other men, all accused of the "aggravated rape" of his former wife, Gisele Pelicot, who is 72. Dominique Pelicot also faces charges in the mass trial that began on Sept 2 and that is due to run until mid-December relating to various privacy breaches because of his alleged recording and disseminating of sexual images. In a separate case, Dominique Pelicot faces additional charges for the alleged 1991 rape and murder of Sophie Narme, a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris.