A 71-year-old man is on trial in France accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of strangers to rape her in their home over nearly a decade in a case that has shocked the country. The husband,

A man is on trial accused of repeatedly drugging and raping his wife, as well as encouraging dozens of other men to rape her in their home while she was unconscious, court documents show.

STORY: A 71-year-old man has gone on trial in France, accused of repeatedly drugging his wife and offering her to strangers for sex over a decade.Dominique Pelicot and more than 50 men face to to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

A French pensioner sent a barrage of depraved messages to over 50 men - such as “You’re like me - you like rape mode” - when he invited them to sexually abuse his wife. Gisele Pélicot, 72, was unknowingly given a mix of sleeping pills and tranquillisers by her husband Dominique Pélicot,

All the accused – aged between 26 and 74 – allegedly raped the 72-year-old woman for almost a decade who was so heavily sedated she was not aware of the abuse.