Volkswacht Bodensee - Gisele Pelicot's daughter says has filed sex abuse case against father

Caroline Darian, whose parents are now divorced, filed the complaint on Wednesday, accusing Dominique Pelicot of drugging her and committing "sexual abuse" against her, she told AFP in an interview.

She said she took legal action as a "message to all victims" of sexual abuse who were drugged not to give up.

Darian has said she suspects Dominique Pelicot abused her too after pictures of her naked and unconscious body were found among the detailed records he kept of his crimes.

Dominique Pelicot, 72, has always denied he abused his daughter.

"Yes, he denied it, but he also lied several times and gave different versions of the story during the two and a half years of the investigation," Darian said.

Gisele Pelicot, 72, last year became a feminist icon for her courage during trial of her former husband for mass rape while they were married.

She had insisted that the trial be held in public and waived her right to anonymity.

A court in southern France in December sentenced him to 20 years for drugging and raping her and inviting dozens of men to do the same for almost a decade.

His 50 co-defendants were also found guilty and handed various sentences of between three and 15 years.

"We clearly saw in court that at no time was Dominique capable of telling the whole truth about what happened," Darian added.

Darian has campaigned for awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse, and in 2022 wrote a book about the family's ordeal, "Et j'ai cesse de t'appeler papa" ("And I stopped calling you dad").

Her new book about victims of sexual abuse, titled "For us to remember" ("Pour que l'on se souvienne"), hit bookstands on Wednesday.

- 'Message to all victims' -

In the latest book, she recalls her time in court at her father's trial, describing it as "the worst experience of my life" and her feeling of having been "the person who was most forgotten at the trial".

She says that since the trial she has been plunged into "abyssal void" and a "feeling of injustice" which "crushes" her. She wants more than ever to be a voice for the victims who are sexually abused after being drugged, she writes.

"Rebuilding requires recognition of my status as a victim," she told AFP, adding: "I know that the road is still long".

Beyond "my personal case", the complaint filed this week represents "a message sent to all victims", she said.

"It is important for me to convey this message so that other victims" of chemical sedation can "tell themselves that there are things to do, there are remedies, and we must never give up".

She has stepped up her public activities since the trial, notably through an NGO she has set up called M'endors pas (Don't fall asleep).

"It's a fight that requires a lot of time, brainpower and a certain form of mental load, but it's really worth it," she told AFP.

"Things are moving and I want to believe that this will allow us to set up real initiatives and real avenues for improvement to support victims who really need it."

M.Schneider--VB