‘I lived a lie’, tearful witness tells French mass rape trial

Recounting her story, Emilie O broke down in tears as she looked at Gisele Pelicot, who smiled back at her in a show of support.
The 33-year-old said she had first met Hugues M online and the two shared a passion for motorcycling.  
She described Hugues M as a respectful and considerate man but added that he was repeatedly unfaithful to her.  
Emilie O said he had needed “adrenaline that he only found by riding a motorbike and engaging in sexual relations”.
She began seeing her life with him in a different light when she learned in 2021 of the charges against her former partner.
Her life was turned upside down when she received a call from the Avignon police.
In addition to Hugues M, the court began examining evidence against five more defendants.
Among them was Joan K, the youngest of the 50 co-defendants who was 22 at the time of the alleged assaults.
In 2019, he was absent for the birth of his own daughter on one of the occasions he is accused of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot, a profiler told the court.
He is suspected of having visited the couple’s home in Mazan to rape Gisele Pelicot on two occasions.
Born in French Guiana, he joined his brother in Avignon when he was 16 before enlisting in the army.    
Joan K was in a relationship with a woman he met on the internet, but their time together was marked by “numerous” conflicts and “extramarital relations”, the court heard.