"It's horrible what happened to that woman."

It may be the annual Christmas market in Mazan's central square, with life seemingly going on as normal, but a dark cloud has loomed over this small French town.

It was in Mazan that Dominique Pelicot, by his own admission in court, invited dozens of men he recruited online to his home to rape his wife Gisèle Pelicot after drugging her. Fifty-one in total are charged.

The trial in nearby Avignon was adjourned on Monday ahead of verdicts expected later this week. Since the hearings began in early September, they have captivated the nation, even the world.

That's partly because of the sordid details, but largely because Gisèle Pelicot, 71, waived her right to anonymity by putting a name and a face to a victim, a decision so rarely seen.

"We're impatiently waiting for the sentences to come down," Yannick Richard, 52, said from his kiosk. The retiree sells knitted stuffed animals and sweaters at the market.

"We really have to mark the occasion. We can't let it pass with small phrases."

Gisèle Pelicot became an icon for people fighting against sexual violence for testifying about the chilling events, in which she was knocked unconscious by her now ex-husband, who invited strangers to his home to rape her, between 2011 and in 2020.

"When he made the decision to open the trial to the public, he did it because he felt it was necessary for the public to understand what happened to him. He never did it because he wanted attention," said Pelicot's lawyer, Stéphane Babonneau, after the trial had been adjourned.

In Mazan, however, few want to talk about the case. Most citizens in the town of about 6,000 are fed up, angry that their home has become synonymous with rape.

Those who do speak try to stay away from the details, instead highlighting the beauty of their town.

"I find it scary"

"As a person from Mazana, I don't have too much of an opinion on the case. It's very tragic what happened to that lady. As a woman, I find it appalling," said singer Poline de Peretti, 58, who 18 years ago who lives in the village

"The Rapist of Mazan? No, no, no. It's the story of Madame Pelicot and the Pelicot family. I'd really like to invite you to visit our village. The people are lovely."

Still, de Peretti can't help but have an opinion.

"It's Madame Pelicot, but it could be any Madame. You or me. We don't know."

house of horrors

The first thing you'll notice about the house at the center of France's worst rape case are the blue shutters. Blue shutters on a cream bungalow with a terracotta roof.

A normal home where everything was anything but normal.

There, just a 10-minute walk from the main square, is where Dominique Pelicot says he would invite men to come and rape his wife, while filming her.

He pleaded guilty, and in his testimony he explained that he would tell the men to park in the parking lot of a nearby sports field, so as not to arouse suspicion.

Then they would walk, under the cover of darkness, the 100 meters or so to the house on a cul-de-sac.

"The notoriety of the village, a wonderful little town like this, is broken by this kind of person, this kind of attitude," said Christian Lhermitte, who has only lived in Mazan for the past five months.

"I think justice will be served."

His wife Hugues Lhermitte interrupts him.

"I don't think the punishments are severe enough, that's for sure."

One by one, all but one of the defendants took to the microphone Monday to speak. Dominique Pelicot, 72, was the first. His voice was weak and halting.

'I salute the courage of my ex-wife'

In his closing statement to the court, he said he would like to "begin by applauding the courage of my ex-wife" and apologized to her family.

Most of the other men simply said, "I have nothing to add."

A few proclaimed their innocence, drawing audible jeers from audience members watching from the overflow room where the courtroom was being shown on television.

Leaving the room with Babonneau, Gisèle Pelicot received applause and stopped to speak to a few women who have supported her.

Babonneau said all societies are struggling with questions about rape, adding that her client "really wanted everyone to understand that there is no such thing as one rape, one type of rape, one type of rapist."

"Everyone loved Dominique Pelicot for years. He was a beloved father, a beloved husband, a grandfather, a colleague, and he is still probably one of the worst sex offenders of the last 50 years in France," he said.

Babonneau said the trial highlighted a universal message that consent is necessary before a sexual act, and that French criminal law defines rape as an act of sexual penetration by someone who uses violence, coercion, threats "or what we call surprise."

He said that while the word consent does not appear in the law, Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious while she was sexually assaulted, "so the rape was committed by surprise."

Last month, prosecutors asked the court for a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape against Dominique Pelicot and 10 to 18 years against the other defendants facing the same charge, if he pleads guilty.

The presiding judge told the court on Monday that the sentences are due to be handed down on Thursday but could be postponed until Friday morning.