Emotional testimony of grandmother as she takes the stand to face dozens of men accused of violating her while she was drugged by her husband: DAVID JONES witnesses extraordinary courage of dignified

By her own description she had always been 'a prude' and had only allowed two men to touch her – one of whom was her husband, sitting, shamefaced, to her left in the dock. Gisele Pelicot stood amid a sea of previously faceless men, all of whom had allegedly raped her while she slept, and calmly confronted them with the anguish they had caused her Husband Dominique drugged her and allowed scores of men to rape her The son of Gisele Pelicot, Florian and her daughter Caroline Darian leave the criminal court in Avignon, France, 05 September 2024 The sons of Gisele Pelicot, Florian, right, David, left, and her daughter Caroline Darian, center, arrive in the Avignon court house, southern France This is where the Pelicots lived, which has been known as the house of horrors Artist drawing from the court of Gisele Pelicot in front of her husband and the other rapists on trial The court had heard how her husband Dominique Pelicot, 71, drugged her to be raped by 50 men who are now on trial with him. Beatrice Zavarro, lawyer for the accused Dominique P, speaks with lawyers at the courthouse during the trial of her client accused of drugging his wife for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan The town of Mazan, 20 miles from Avignon in southern France, where the victim and her husband lived and the attacks took place Gisele Pelicot sits next to her daughter Caroline Darian and her sons Florian Pelicot and David Pelicot with his wife Celine F., at the courthouse during the trial of her husband on September 2 Her demeanour contrasted with that of her daughter, Caroline Darian, now in her 40s, who wept softly throughout her mother's long statement. Madame Pelicot is pictured above as she arrived to court this morning Dominique Pelicot is accused of orchestrating the rape ring A black and white facial reconstruction of a younger Dominique Pelicot is seen in this handout image Caroline Darian's book So, she said, she gave him a second chance – never imagining the 'magnitude' of the crimes that this relatively minor affair would soon uncover. Today Madame Pelicot, 71, will relive the trauma that she experienced when police investigator showed her graphic films of her being raped repeatedly by her husband Dominique and more than 80 strangers while she was unconscious Gisele Pelicot bravely waived her right to anonymity to make public details of the horrific betrayal her partner of 50 years had forced her to endure over ten years Reeling home from the police station, that November day, her first task was to tell her children that their father was a monster.