At the Mazan rape trial, Gisèle Pelicot leaves the courtroom for the first time, exasperated by the denials of an accused

Vincent C., accused of having raped her on two occasions while she was unconscious, had just claimed to have acted thinking “to please” the Pelicot couple.

After listening to an hour of sluggish interrogation, Gisèle Pelicot finally broke down: for the first time since the start of the Mazan rape trial, she left the courtroom on Wednesday October 9, exasperated. It was Vincent C., a 42-year-old man, who clearly pushed her to the limits of her patience.

He was the first of the five accused on the hearing week’s program to be heard by the Vaucluse criminal court. He appears for having gone twice to the home of the Pelicot couple, on October 27, 2019 and January 11, 2020. Placed in pre-trial detention, he is, like the vast majority of his co-accused, prosecuted for “aggravated rape” of the septuagenarian . And like the majority of them, he denies having had “the intention” to rape. And therefore does not recognize the facts.

When leaving for Mazan, the first time, he said he was convinced that he would participate in “a threesome”. But upon arriving, Dominique Pelicot told him that his wife “went to bed, she took her sleeping pill”relates the man in his box. “I say to myself: ‘We’re going to go to the bedroom, we’re going to wake her up'”continues the accused. “Do you wonder why she doesn’t wake up?”asks the president. “I find it strange, but I never would have imagined the unimaginable”he replies, repeating the words spoken the day before by Pierre P., the son-in-law of Dominique and Gisèle Pelicot.

“Madame Pelicot is in front of you, perfectly unconscious, according to the photos I have in front of me… And you insert your penis into her mouth. Doesn’t that reveal that something is happening? abnormal?”the president asks. “The truth is, I’m not thinking about it at the moment.”replies the person concerned laconically.

“Mr. C., I’m sorry, I don’t mind that you are alcoholic, that you are guided by sexual needs, but here, a person is in a state of suffocation, you still have the potential to think”insists the president, who is starting to get annoyed. “At that time, no. I should have, I agree, but I don’t understand why…”retorts Vincent C., barely audible.

“Your explanations arouse indignation on the part of the civil party”says Antoine Camus, Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer. But the accused does not deviate from his version. Laure Chabaud, the general counsel, takes over. “Assuming that we are in the context of what you call ‘a scenario’: if we put ourselves in the place of a totally unconscious woman, we can wonder what the point of such a game is”she summarizes. “Yes”said Vincent C, laconic.

“What do you think is the point of having sex with a completely inert body?”continues the magistrate. “No interest for me, but it was for the couple, to satisfy them”says the man. “So it’s pure goodness?!”chokes Laure Chabaud. It’s too much for Gisèle Pelicot, who gets up. Her lawyer tries to detain her. “I can’t stand that man!”says the septuagenarian.

She leaves the audience for a few minutes. And comes back in full projection of a video of one of the rapes committed on her by the accused. We hear his snoring. The light is harsh. Everything is filmed in close-up. The man is not wearing a condom. Gisèle Pelicot walks along the room to return to her place. Then sits down and looks at his cell phone.

Vincent C. lowered his head throughout the screening. Antoine Camus speaks again. “Why don’t you want to watch these videos?”he asks. “Because I never saw them, I know what I did, and it’s unbearable”the man retorts. “You still think you’ve pleased a couple?”continues the lawyer. “I think I pleased the husband, not the couple”finally recognizes the accused.