Avignon trial

Daughter: “You’ll die alone, like a dog!”

(Bild: APA/AFP )

At the end of the rape trial in Avignon, the waters ran high once again. While the accused Dominique Pelicot was remorseful about what he had done to his family, his daughter made it clear that she wanted nothing more to do with him. "You'll die alone, like a dog!" she shouted at her father in court.

Pelicot had made his wife available to strangers dozens of times so that they could rape her - while she was drugged and unconscious. Their daughter is also an alleged victim of the accused: in addition to rape videos of her mother, naked pictures of Caroline Darian were found on Pelicot's PC. She was also unconscious in the pictures.

Gisele Pelicot on her way to court(Bild: AFP/Christophe Simon)

Uncertainty about what happened to her is a problem for her daughter
To this day, she does not know how these pictures of her were taken - and whether her father had done more to her. Dominique Pelicot claimed in court that he had no explanation for the nude photos of his daughter on his computer. He swears he can't remember - he has never molested his children or grandchildren.

But the French woman is tormented by the uncertainty as to whether incest took place, the doubt would "consume her on a low flame", according to Darian's lawyer. On Wednesday in court, her emotions finally got the better of her: When her father meekly explained that he wanted to look her in the eye again, that he couldn't bear to see her in "this state", she shouted at him. "I'm not coming to see you, Dominique," she screamed. "You'll die alone, like a dog!"

At the beginning of the trial, daughter and mother were visibly closer.(Bild: APA/AFP)

Mother-daughter relationship apparently shattered
Particularly tragic: the grueling trial for the victims, which started at the beginning of September, has apparently put a great strain on the relationship between Caroline Darian and her mother Gisele Pelicot. According to "Frankfurter Allgemeine", the women's relationship is considered to have broken down. While they still visibly stuck together at the start of the trial, mother and daughter barely looked at each other on Wednesday.

Darian is said to be displeased that Gisele does not want to completely banish the time she spent together with her husband, to whom she was married for 50 years, from her memory. "It's not for me to judge him, I'm a very positive person and I think the best of Dominique Pelicot should be kept in his memory," the 71-year-old said on Tuesday. She has therefore not forgiven him: "I have not forgiven anything," she clarified.