Bombay Durpun - Verdicts awaited in rape trial that shocked France

Also in the dock and risking lengthy spells in prison are the men who responded to the invitation of Dominique Pelicot and visited his family home, sometimes on multiple occasions, to rape his then-wife Gisele Pelicot.

Dominique Pelicot, 72, has admitted to drugging Gisele Pelicot for almost a decade so he and strangers he recruited online could rape her.

Gisele Pelicot, 72, has become a feminist hero at home and abroad for refusing to be ashamed, waiving her right to a closed trial and standing up to her aggressors in court.

Alongside her ex-husband, 50 other men aged 27 to 74 have been on trial at the court in the southern city of Avignon, including one who did not abuse her but raped his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.

On November 25, prosecutors requested the maximum possible sentence -- 20 years behind bars -- against Dominique Pelicot for aggravated rape.

It is widely expected that Dominique Pelicot will receive the maximum term but considerably more uncertainty surrounds the sentencing of the other defendants.

The prosecution has requested 10 to 18 years in prison against the 49 defendants also charged with aggravated rape. One of these accused is on the run and being tried in absentia.

One more accused -- facing the lesser charge of groping -- risks up to four years in prison.

Thirty-two of the accused are attending the trial as free men while the others, including Dominique Pelicot, are remanded in custody.

The five-judge panel are due to issue their verdicts from 0830 GMT.

- 'Bravo Gisele!' -

In his final statement on Monday. Dominique Pelicot reaffirmed that he had told "the whole truth" since the beginning of the trial on September 2.

"I would like to start by hailing the courage of my ex-wife," he said sitting in the glass defendants' box.

"I regret what I did, making (my family) suffer... I ask them for forgiveness," he said.

"I can tell my whole family that I love them," he said.

While Gisele Pelicot was present in court on Monday, their three children, pointedly, did not come to court to hear their father's last statement.

Turning to the five judges who will issue the verdict, he said: "There you go, you have the rest of my life in your hands."

As she left the court, supporters greeted her with applause and shouts of "bravo Gisele!"

- 'I apologise to Mrs Pelicot' -

Several defence lawyers have attempted to shift the totality of the responsibility to Dominique Pelicot, arguing their clients were victims of a "monster" who had manipulated them into assaulting Gisele Pelicot.

Prosecutors have acknowledged the severity of their sentencing demands for the other accused, which are above the national average terms for rape convictions, but have emphasised the importance of the trial in sending a message to women.

After Dominique Pelicot, all the other accused were given the chance to make final statements on Monday, although half of them simply said "nothing to add".

Around 15 of the men, however, chose to ask Gisele Pelicot for forgiveness.

"It is indeed your body that I subjected to this rape," declared Cedric G., 51.

"I apologise to Mrs Pelicot, I regret it and I ask her forgiveness," declared Romain V., 63, one of four accused who responded six times to Dominique Pelicot's invitation posted on the Internet.

Another accused who went six times to the Pelicot family home in the town of Mazan in southern France, Jerome V., 46, said that "whatever sentence" he is given at the end of the week, he will not appeal, "out of respect for the victim, so that she does not have to endure" a new trial.

The prosecution has requested a 16-year jail term for him.

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A.Krishnamurthy--BD