In an extensive interview with Newsnight, the woman at the heart of France's biggest rape trial speaks about betrayal, healing and choosing the right path.
Watch LiveBritish Broadcasting CorporationHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesHomeNewsUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessWorld of BusinessTechnology of BusinessNYSE Opening BellTechnologyWatch DocumentariesArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindHealthWatch DocumentariesCultureWatch DocumentariesFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsWatch DocumentariesArts in MotionTravelWatch DocumentariesDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthWatch DocumentariesScienceNatural WondersClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcast CategoriesRadioAudio FAQsVideoWatch DocumentariesBBC MaestroDiscover the WorldLiveLive NewsLive SportDocumentariesHomeNewsSportBusinessTechnologyHealthCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveDocumentariesWeatherNewslettersWatch LiveGisèle Pelicot tells BBC: I felt crushed by horror - but I don't feel anger4 hours agoShareSaveVictoria Derbyshire,BBC NewsnightandLaura GozziShareSaveBBCGisèle Pelicot, the woman at the centre of France's largest rape trial, has told BBC Newsnight she was "crushed by horror" on discovering that, for years, her husband had repeatedly drugged her unconscious and invited dozens of men to rape her.
"Something exploded inside me," says Ms Pelicot, 73, of the moment she realised the scale of her husband's crimes. "It was like a tsunami."
In an extensive interview ahead of the publication of her memoir, A Hymn To Life, she describes how phoning her three children with the news of what she had discovered about their father was possibly the toughest experience of her life.
She recalls the moment she decided to waive her legal right to anonymity, and how she has never regretted that decision. She also reveals she still has unanswered questions she wants to ask her now ex-husband - the man she refers to as "Mr Pelicot" - in jail, where he is serving a 20-year term.
Warning: This article contains accounts of rape and sexual abuse
The Hôtel de Ville in central Paris, with its ceiling frescoes and rich wood panelling, is a far cry from the drab courtrooms in which Ms Pelicot was last seen publicly, during the four-month trial that shook France.
She describes the moment that marked the beginning of what she calls her "descent into hell".
She had accompanied her husband, Dominique Pelicot, to a police station near their home in Mazan, southern France. He had been summoned for secretly filming underneath women's skirts in a supermarket.
Ms Pelicot was taken aside by a policeman, who started asking her a series of increasingly probing questions. What kind of man was her husband? A great guy, she answered. Had they had ever engaged in swinging? No, of course not, she protested.
"He told me: 'I am about to show you something you won't like.' I didn't understand right away."
The officer showed her two photos of a lifeless woman lying on a bed. They were among thousands of pictures and videos her husband had taken of her while she was drugged.
"I didn't recognise myself," she says
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