Avignon rape trial: Mayor in hiding after downplaying case because ‘no one died’

Louis Bonnet sought to minimise the crimes of Dominique Pelicot, who admitted regularly drugging his wife and allowing scores of men to rape her

Gisele Pelicot has waived her right to anonymity and has appeared in court every day during the rape trial (AP)

The mayor of the French town at the centre of the shocking multiple rape trial has gone into hiding following death threats over comments he made in an interview.

Louis Bonnet, 74, caused outrage when he said the crimes of Dominique Pelicot, 71, should not be blown out of proportion because “after all, no one died”. Mr Pelicot has admitted regularly drugging his wife, Gisele, now 72, and allowing scores of men to rape her over a 10-year period.

Mr Bonnet is now under the protection of police officers in the south of France, at an unknown address far away from Mazan, where he was elected mayor in 2020.

“I’ve been threatened, I’ve been insulted,” he said on Friday. “Someone asked the town hall for my address so that they could raid my home with a gang.”

Mr Bonnet said he had also been receiving threats on social media, and by phone, since speaking to the BBC earlier this month. He had commented on the ongoing trial at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, in which 50 men are accused of aggravated rape alongside Mr Pelicot.

Mr Bonnet expressed views about rape that are widely held in France, especially among older men. He claimed to have received many messages from local residents who support him.

Mr Bonnet said in the interview: “The bottom line is that at some point, when our village is seen as a breeding ground for rapists, people have to speak out. If there was a slip-up with Mr and Mrs Pelicot, it does not represent the whole village.”

But he later made a full apology on Facebook, saying he regretted his comments.

Ms Pelicot has waived her right to anonymity in a case that has caused shock and outrage around the world. She has been in the courtroom since the trial opened on 2 September, supported by her three adult children.

Mr Pelicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretly filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras. His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of pornographic videos and photos of women. It was while in custody that Mr Pelicot disclosed the existence of a hard drive containing some 3,800 photos and videos of his wife being raped between 2011 and 2020.

Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified.

The sex ring involved advertising on a site for swinger partners on an online forum called “Without Her Knowing” on the now-defunct coco.fr site. Of the 83 men involved, 51 of them, aged between 26 and 73, were identified and arrested by police.

Mr Pelicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting a powerful anxiolytic into her dinner.

Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.

In a separate case, Mr Pelicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991. He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.

The aggravated rape case is due to last until 21 December. Fourteen of the other defendants have also admitted rape, while the remainder deny any wrongdoing.