Summary
A French court sentenced Dominique Pelicot, 72, to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his ex-wife, Gisele Pelicot, and arranging for other men to rape her while unconscious over nearly a decade.
Of the 51 co-defendants, all were found guilty, with sentences ranging from less than 10 years to 20.
The trial, marked by shocking evidence, spurred national debate on rape culture and consent laws.
Gisèle’s courage in waiving anonymity has galvanized feminist movements, with campaigners calling her a national hero for sparking societal and legal reflection on sexual violence.
In France, the punishments do not communicate. If one is found guilty of multiple charges, only the highest punishment is applied. Also the law specifies maximum punishments for the various crimes.
Wait, really? If you kill three people vs one it’s the same sentence? That seems a bit odd. What’s the deterrent from just committing the same crime 50x?
In the case of murder, the sentence is up to life in prison. So, in this case it will depend on the circumstances. Accidentally killing someone will not give you the same punishment as murdering several people.
Let’s say, if you do a robbery and kill someone, you, Robert gives you 2 years in prison and murder 20 years (I am making the numbers up, I don’t actually know) then you will be sentence for only 20 years (because this already includes 5 years).
So if you also rape someone during that robbery, you wouldn’t receive any additional punishment?
Wow.