As a 12-year-old, she was raped by her stepfather. Valérie Bacot is later forced to marry her tormentor. Abuse and violence continue for decades – until she takes up arms.
Chalon-sur-Saône – He is said to have raped her repeatedly and forced her into prostitution – then she killed him. The French judiciary is currently shedding light on the high-profile case of Valérie Bacot, who killed her husband five years ago.
As the French news agency AFP reported from the courtroom in Chalon-sur-Saône in eastern France, Bacot is threatened for life. In a petition – as of Tuesday – more than 600,000 French people have already demanded freedom for the tormented accused. The process should take until Friday.
Petition calls for freedom for Bacot
According to his own accounts, Bacot had been mistreated by her husband for decades. She described her ordeal in her book “Tout le monde savait” (“Everyone knew it”), recently published by Fayard. Her mother’s lover at the time raped her when she was 12 years old. He was sentenced and sent to prison, but returned to the family. She became pregnant at 17 and was forced to marry her tormentor, who was 25 years older than her mother, repudiated by her own mother. As the woman said in court, her husband was violent, threatened her with a gun and forced her into prostitution. Ultimately, she killed him with a shot in the neck to protect her daughter.
The terrifying case is regularly mentioned in France in the same breath as Jacqueline Sauvage, who is a symbol of domestic violence victims. After 47 years of marriage, she killed her violent husband with three gunshots in the back in September 2012. She and her three daughters subsequently reported that the man had abused them for years. Her case sparked heated debates and protests. She was convicted and finally pardoned by then President François Hollande. dpa
