The daughter of Gisèle Pelicot is speaking out publicly about her own alleged abuse, filing a police complaint against her father, Dominique Pelicot, and calling for an investigation into whether he drugged and sexually assaulted her — allegations he denies.
"There are some serious facts which weren't really investigated," Darian said. "I want to see the truth and I will have the truth."
Caroline Darian's father admitted to drugging his wife — who is Darian's mother — regularly between 2011 and 2020, so that he and dozens of other men could rape her. Darian, who describes herself as "the daughter of both victim and abuser," filed the complaint in February, just months after her father was convicted in a case that shocked France and drew international attention.
Authorities previously uncovered two deleted photos of Darian semi-nude. Dominique Pelicot was convicted of taking indecent photos of his daughter, but nothing more.
"I'm sure there's not only two pictures of me sedated," Darian said. "It's what we call the post-traumatic syndrome. I learned what he did to my mom. My whole world collapsed."
In a statement to CBS News, a lawyer for Dominique Pelicot said her client is not surprised by his daughter's accusations that he did more than take photos of her. The lawyer claims prosecutors declined to prosecute these accusations at trial because they say there was no objective evidence.
The case against Darian's father
Dominique Pelicotwas sentenced in December to 20 years in prison for repeatedly drugging and raping his wife for nearly a decade, and inviting dozens of men he met online to do the same.
For years, he rendered his wife unconscious by lacing her food and drinks with drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medicine. The drugs began taking a toll on Gisèle Pelicot's health.
"She started to lose weight, to lose her hair, and also she had sometimes no memories," Darian noted.
In all, 51 men were convicted following Gisèle Pelicot's decision to pursue a public trial.
"They were age between 22 and 70 years," Darian said. "There was a journalist, there was a firefighter, there were entrepreneurs."
Darian's story
Darian shares her story in the book "I'll Never Call Him Dad Again," recently released in the U.S.
To combat drug-induced sexual abuse, Darian founded "M'endors pas," which means "Don't put me under" in an effort to increase awareness about chemical submission and toxicology testing.
"When you discover that you don't know who raised you... my dad is dead, so I will never call him that again," she explained.
Adriana Diaz
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Adriana Diaz is a co-host of "CBS Mornings Plus," a third hour of "CBS Mornings" broadcast on weekdays by several CBS-owned stations and simulcast on CBS News 24/7, CBS News and Stations' streaming news service.
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