French rapist Dominique Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian: Father should die in prison

The daughter of Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman convicted of drugging his ex-wife and facilitating her rape by dozens of men, said in a BBC interview that her father “should die in prison.”

Caroline Darian, speaking publicly for the first time since her father was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month, described him as “a dangerous man.”

“He should die in prison,” Darian said in a programme titled Pelicot Trial: The Daughter’s Story, which will air on Monday.

Pelicot, aged 72, was found guilty of drugging and raping his former wife, Gisele Pelicot, and orchestrating assaults on her by dozens of men over a period of more than a decade.

The trial, held in Avignon, included 50 co-defendants who were handed sentences ranging from three to 15 years. Gisele Pelicot, who waived her right to a closed trial, has been praised for her resilience throughout the proceedings.

Darian spoke about her father’s actions, saying, “There’s no way you can wake up one morning and say, ‘Okay, I’m gonna drug my wife.’ So I think there are two Dominiques co-existing in him. He decided to choose the dark side.”

She added, “I don’t know if he is a monster, but he perfectly knew what he did. He’s not sick. He did everything consciously.”

Darian also said she believes her father drugged and raped her, though she admitted she lacks direct evidence. During the trial, photographs of her naked and unconscious body were found among the records her father kept of his crimes. Pelicot denied the allegations, leading to confrontations between the two in court.

“He’s always lying,” Darian said. “I know that he drugged me, probably for sexual abuse, but I don’t have any evidence.”

Darian said she now views her father as “a stranger.” She explained, “I look straight to the criminal, to the sexual criminal he is.”

The interview comes ahead of a television documentary narrated by Darian on the use of drugs to facilitate rape and sexual abuse. The programme, scheduled for broadcast by France 2 on January 21, will feature testimonies from six other victims who were assaulted after being unknowingly drugged.