Frenchman admits to mass rape of his wife, says acts were 'an addiction'

FILE PHOTO: Gisele Pelicot who has allegedly been drugged and raped by men solicited by her husband Dominique Pelicot, at the courthouse in Avignon, France, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo

AVIGNON, France (Reuters) -Dominique Pelicot admitted to drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade, begging for his family's forgiveness, as he told a French court on Tuesday: "I am a rapist."

Pelicot's hearing, the centrepiece of one of France's most spectacular criminal trials in recent history, had to be delayed last week due to his bad health.