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Antonio Paniagua
Madrid
Lunes, 27 de enero 2025, 14:10
Caroline Darian, the daughter of the sexual predator who drugged his wife for years so that dozens of men could violate her, has no doubt that her mother was not the only victim of the atrocities committed. "I have no doubt about Dominique's inclinations. I believe he didn't stop with Gisèle," asserts Darian, who held a virtual press conference on Monday to present her book 'And I Stopped Calling You Dad' (Seix Barral), recently published in Spain. Her account is a bitter testimony of the grieving process, which continues, upon discovering her father led a double life: on one hand, an exemplary family man, and on the other, a persistent rapist.
Darian is uncertain whether her father violated her and kept her in a state of lethargy with sedatives, as he did with her mother, though she fears the worst. "I don't know how to start another process. Since he refused to answer my questions during the trial, I am left with doubts and uncertainties. I don't have tangible evidence to present," argued Caroline Darian, who welcomes the 20-year sentence her father received, the maximum possible penalty. However, she expresses dismay over the sentencing of the other 51 defendants who appeared in the trial. "What they received is far below what the prosecution demanded. Seventeen of them have appealed, which makes them presumably innocent," she stated.
The police found tens of thousands of photographs, videos, and conversations in her father's house, proving that for at least ten years, Dominique Pelicot systematically drugged his wife so that strangers, whom he selected on a dating website, could come to his home to violate her while he recorded everything. Despite all the evidence, Dominique Pelicot stubbornly denied the facts. "He is so divided in his personality that admitting the whole truth is something he finds impossible."
The main victim, Gisèle Pelicot, decided that the trial should be held with the doors open to the press, so that, as Caroline famously said, "the shame would change sides." This reflection arose when she realized the humiliation of bearing the surname of both the perpetrator and the victim. "It's a phrase that speaks to and resonates with many people, especially victims of sexual violence, who are often afraid to face the situation and speak out. It is not the victims' responsibility to carry the burden of shame on their shoulders."
Gisèle, a 72-year-old woman who endured the trial with exemplary stoicism, has become a symbol in the fight against sexual violence. Now, Caroline Darian is undergoing therapeutic treatment to alleviate her suffering and has decided that her son should know the whole truth about his grandfather. "My son has been seeing a therapist for three years and is doing well today. He is now ten years old, goes to school, and knows that his grandfather did very serious things and will end his life in prison," explains Caroline, who believes that not hiding what happened from a child is "also part of the healing process."
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