AVIGNON — Five French judges will deliver their verdicts on Thursday (Dec 19) in a mass rape case against 51 men that has appalled the world and transformed the victim, Gisele Pelicot, into a stirring symbol of courage and resilience.

Pelicot's ex-husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, has pleaded guilty to drugging her repeatedly for almost a decade to rape her, and to offer up her unconscious body for sex to dozens of strangers he had met online, while videoing the abuse.

Prosecutors have demanded the maximum 20-year prison sentence for him, and terms of between four to 18 years for the other 50 defendants, almost all of whom are accused of raping Pelicot while she lay comatose in her bed.

Pelicot, 72, waived her right to anonymity and asked for the trial to be held in public, with the videos aired in court, saying she hoped this would help other women speak up.

The trial has triggered protest rallies around France in support of Pelicot, and spurred soul-searching, including a debate on whether to update France's rape law, which at present makes no mention that sex should involve consent.

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