Gisèle Pelicot tells about her ex-husband

Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who became a global symbol of bravery when took a step forward publicly to testify against her ex-husband and dozens of other men in a mass rape trial, told “News Sunday Morning” that she believes her story “could be helpful to others.”

That’s why she opens up about her story in her memoir, “A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides.” He said he is speaking directly to those who might ask, “How could this woman go through what she went through and still be standing?”

In her first U.S. televised interview, broadcast on “News Sunday Morning” on February 15, Pelicot told correspondent Seth Doane that she “used to be a very discreet woman.”

Pelicot waived her right to anonymity and insisted that court proceedings be made public during the four-month trial against her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, and 51 other men accused of raping her over nearly a decade at his invitation. All the men were found guiltyand Dominique was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years.

In the memoir, Pelicot recounts the shock and horror of discovering that, for years, her then-husband had been drugging her and recruiting other men to assault her in their home.

“I never imagined I would be living with a man who drugged his wife in his own home. It was impossible,” he told Doane.

Pelicot had suffered unexplained health problems, and looking back, he says there were other signs that something was wrong, recalling several disturbing incidents when his drinks tasted strange, sometimes even undrinkable, “like they had put mint in my glass.” She also remembers that her husband prepared the potatoes separately. But she never imagined that her husband would be tying them up.

“How can you imagine that your husband is drugging you? It’s unthinkable, impossible. In fact, I was manipulated for about ten years. Because he looked into my eyes every day knowing that he was poisoning me. But I never saw that. I saw a kind and loving man,” she said.

Watch more of Seth Doane’s interview with Gisèle Pelicot this weekend on “News Sunday Morning.” Pelicot’s memoir, “A Hymn to Life,” will be published next week by Penguin Press.