He was the most discreet presence in the audience at the Pelicot case trial. His name is Jean-Loup, he was a steward on the legendary Concorde with Air France and is now the emotional support that 73-year-old Gisèle has found to overcome the turbulence and soar high again. The photos of the couple on Île de Ré, the small French island where she sought refuge, bear witness to this late love that can be read almost as an epilogue of Anthem to Life (Lumen), her memoirs to be published in 20 languages on February 17.
An HBO documentary will soon attest to the "reconstruction" of Gisèle Pelcito, a year after the sentence of 20 years in prison for her ex-husband for drugging her and serving her on a platter to over fifty rapists. Far from the scene in Mazan, the "bravest woman in the world" leads a relatively normal life, without fear of being harassed on the street and occasionally taking selfies with visitors and neighbors.
The photos published by Paris Match, however, disrupted the peace and protection she sought to overcome the trauma. Gisèle's last public appearance was in October of last year, during the appeal filed by one of her rapists, Husamettin Dogan, whose sentence was increased from nine to ten years in prison. Gisèle decided to temporarily step away from the public eye to regain security and rebuild her life, after openly confessing during the trial: "The facade is solid, but behind it lies a field in ruins."
Gisèle's lawyers accused the magazine of "not learning anything from the trial," where 3,000 photos and videos of the abuses were exhibited. The legal back and forth concluded with an agreement for "invasion of privacy" and compensation of 40,000 euros directed to two associations for victims of sexual violence.
The happy couple image projected by Gisèle and Jean-Loup on their walk on the island of Ré has, however, confirmed the late spring atmosphere that has settled in her life despite the torment with which Dominique, the love of her life and father of her three children, strangled their 50 years of life together. Jean-Loup became a widower in 2022, as a local saleswoman confided to Paris Match. The experience of grief, in his case, may have prepared him to support Gisèle through the aftermath of sexual violence. They met through mutual friends. Jean-Loup, 72, retired as a steward from Air France but still maintains contacts with the Toussus-le-Noble aeroclub. Passionate about mechanics, he is a big fan of motorcycles and vintage cars. Having been settled on the island of Ré for years, he decided to reinvent himself as a real estate agent.
Discretion is the couple's maxim, going for walks twice a day with their dog Zoé (a French bulldog). For months, Gisèle has been immersed in writing her biography, hand in hand with journalist and novelist Judith Perrignon, in what is announced as "luminous memoirs." In them, she speaks openly about her first love, motherhood, her professional career that led her to a logistics management position for nuclear power plants, and her fifty-year relationship with Dominique, before waking up from the nightmare.
"Shame must change sides," the motto with which Gisèle Pelicot emerged from anonymity, is also the starting point for everything that happened afterwards: from the impact on global public opinion to legal changes in France, from the notion of "non-consent" to consider sexual acts as rape to the elimination of the "marital duty" in marriage approved this week in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, Gisèle is making the most of the last days of calm on the island of Ré, occasionally receiving visits from her sons David and Florian and her grandchildren. The woman who earned her status as a global feminist icon will soon embark on a promotional tour, including Spain, which will once again put her in the spotlight with a renewed faith in life.
With Caroline, the middle of her three children, she has maintained a tense distance for months. "Relations with my mother are calmer now," confessed Caroline Darian recently to Le Parisien. Her 47th birthday in January helped facilitate the mother-daughter reconciliation, despite the feeling of abandonment she felt during the trial. "I felt very alone."
The reason for the dispute was Caroline's insistence on denouncing her father on suspicion that he may have also abused her by drugging her, after finding two photos on her computer showing her lying in bed in underwear she did not recognize. In her book "And I Stopped Calling You Dad," Caroline does not hide her resentment towards her mother for not supporting her accusations: "Her silence spoke volumes." Nevertheless, Caroline publicly praises her mother's courage: "In my eyes, she is a modern heroine. She was able to attend the trial every day and face those heinous crimes live through the transmitted videos. I don't know many women who could have done that."
Gisèle's daughter has become the most visible face against "chemical submission" through the association she created #MendorsPas (Don't Drug Me) and her close collaboration with MP Sandrine Josso, who this week achieved personal vindication with the four-year prison sentence for former senator Joël Guerriau, for drugging her with ecstasy diluted in champagne in an attempt to abuse her.
Caroline continues her personal battle with her father: "I won't let him step into the grave without looking me in the eye and telling me why those photos exist and what he did to me." She has reported him, but she has little hope that the case will progress due to lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, Dominique Pelicot's confessions written from his cell give title to the book that the monster of Mazan has conceived in prison. "He has written novels, many poems, and the story of his life," explained his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro. "It has been a way to escape the straitjacket of prison. He did it for therapeutic purposes." His goal is to see his book published, "but there is much resistance among publishers."
Dominique may have to be held accountable for two other cases: the rape and murder of real estate agent Sophie Narme in Paris in 1991, and an attempted rape of another young woman (under the fictitious name of Marion) in the Seine and Marne region in 1999. A judicial report published this year also revealed that he was caught and questioned in 2010 for filming upskirt images of women in a Parisian supermarket with his mobile phone, the same type of incident that led to his arrest ten years later. He was fined 100 euros, and Gisèle was unaware. The report questions whether an investigation into his actions at the time could have prevented the decade-long nightmare his wife had to endure.