Gisele Pelicot’s daughter raped in school she created to help underprivileged
In a tragic turn of events, a 70-year-old women, Gisele Pelicot, who started a school for impoverished children in northeastern France to keep them from the clutches of crime and delinquency, was devastated to find out that her own daughter, Marie Anne, was one of their victims, reports The New York Times.
The incident is shocking and unfathomable by any standards, as the school in question was designed by Pelicot herself to ensure that every child has equal opportunities to lead a prosperous life. She even lived in the school premises to give a personal touch to the children’s lives.
In a heartbreaking essay published by French publication Forum, Pelicot revealed that her 37-year-old daughter told her over the winter holidays that she had been the victim of a deadly sin while she was the teacher at the school four years ago. The daughter said it tore her apart that she couldn’t reveal it earlier as it could have led to the arrest of her young daughter’s father.
After the revelation, Pelicot, who had made it her mission to save every child, became someone who needed saving herself. She resigned from her teaching post and closed the school. Pelicot’s fight against childhood poverty may have changed her, but it cannot take away the fact that she’s still suffering.
According to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in the Meuse region where the school is located, the suspect was Marie-Anne’s ex-boyfriend, a man described as an “inherently dangerous child,” who was sentenced to nine years in prison for robbing a grocery store.
The suspect, who wasn’t identified but is in custody, was felonious even when Marie-Anne was a teacher at Echoes in a school designed to provide at-risk and hard-to-educate children with a safe haven, according to Pelicot.
“If the story turns out to be true, I think it’s a pretty clear case of sexual assault committed by a psychopath,” Pelicot told the New York Times.
It’s hard for Pelicot to understand how somebody could hurt a child “in such a way” and parents expect her to explain how she’s handling such a bewildering situation, she explained.
“I’ve achieved something, but it barely consoles me for what has happened,” she added. “Honestly, I would feel worse if I believe that this confinement of everything is justifying what happened. What happened is much more serious, or much more difficult for her [daughter] to experience, than everything we’ve accomplished.”
Pelicot’s wrote in her essay, “A crime doesn’t always destroy that which gave it birth or was produced by it,” and she’s trying her best to stay optimistic. In the meantime, she’s spending her time gardening, sewing, and wondering what set her daughter on a path that led to the tragic events.
In an interview with France’s La Vie magazine about her book “Heartbreak Hotel,” Marie-Anne said that she had a special empathy for girls who have been hurt or traumatized by life. She chalked it up to the fact that she had been hurt herself as an 18-year-old by somebody whom she loved and trusted deeply.
“There, in my heart, was a wound, something that would never be healed,” she said.
Marie, however, said she felt like she was “sort of rescued” until the moment she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, she told La Vie.
Marie was recently pronounced cancer-free and even Pelicot suggests the same, that her daughter will overcome the trauma she’s suffered, although it’s at her own pace, and if she allows herself to.
shipping and location.
Leave a Reply