Mazan is a picturesque idyll, a sleepy village on a hill surrounded by vineyards and deciduous forests. The narrow alleys are lined with medieval stone houses with shutters that are meant to keep the warmth out.
In one of the houses, Marquis de Sade, an 18th-century philosopher who gave rise to the word sadism – enjoying the humiliation and torture of others – lived for periods.
It was to Mazan that Dominique and Gisèle Pélicot moved in 2013. After 40 years of marriage, they were supposed to enjoy their pension in a small yellow house with blue shutters. But that was not to be. Instead, it was here, in the couple's new home, that Dominique Pélicot invited men to rape his drugged wife without her knowledge.
"What does your neighbor do?"
The case has shaken France and large parts of the world – and Mazan. The ongoing trial against Pélicot and 50 other men has created tensions among the village's 6,000 inhabitants, writes BBC in a report. Most of the accused men are from the area.
You don't know who you can trust. I'm relieved that I'm moving away from here soon, says 25-year-old Océane Martin to the media company.
The 50 men on trial are those whom the police have managed to identify based on 71-year-old Dominique Pélicot's meticulous documentation of the rapes. Océane Martin knows at least three of them, she says. But at least 20 more men, possibly as many as 30, figure in the investigation material – rapists who are still at large.
It's tense here because people no longer know if they can trust their neighbors, says Martin's mother Isabelle Liversain to BBC.
You wonder – is he one of the 30? What does your neighbor do behind closed doors?
"Young dad"
To The Telegraph, which also visited the village, says Mazan resident Michèle Ramel that everything is "terrible". The village's reputation has been destroyed.
It's a beautiful, peaceful place, that's why so many retirees come here in search of the good life, says Ramel and adds:
Now they call Mazan the "rape village".
Last week, the local newspaper La Provence's front page featured a row of blurry faces under the headline "Who are the 50", writes The Telegraph. At the café Le Siècle, owner Vincent Flegon examines the pictures.
Look at them. They're all "Mr. Average" – a nurse, a soldier, a firefighter, a carpenter.
Flegon points to some of the men.
These three are from Mazan. I knew them well, they were regular customers.
Humans are bizarre and unfathomable. One of them I knew is a young dad, a really nice guy. Who knows who else was involved? It could be anyone.
The trial against 71-year-old Dominique Pélicot and 50 other men in Avignon, France, began on September 2 and is expected to last for nearly four months.
The men are all accused of assaulting Gisèle Pélicot, 72. Several of the accused risk 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.
Before the assaults, Dominique Pélicot drugged his wife to the point where she was almost unconscious, according to the prosecution. She therefore did not know what was happening until it was discovered in 2020.
The evidence consists of tens of thousands of images and films showing at least 70 different men raping Pélicot – assaults that took place over a ten-year period. The accused are between 25 and 75 years old, including a former police officer, a local politician, and a journalist. Many have families and children, according to French media.
The trial is open to the public at the request of Gisèle Pélicot, who has also agreed to have her name and picture published.
The evidence also includes intimate images of the Pélicot's daughter and two daughters-in-law, taken without their knowledge.
