Dominique Pelicot invited men to rape his wife, whom he had drugged. The French media call them “Mr. Every Man” because they come from such ordinary backgrounds.

Public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told the packed courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Monday that the sentence would be “long” but “not enough considering the serious nature of these acts.”

French prosecutors have demanded prison sentences of up to 20 years for 51 men accused of participating in the repeated drugging and rape of Gisèle Pelicot over a decade. The trial, known as the Mazan rape case,

Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked the panel of judges for the maximum possible penalty for aggravated rape — 20 years — against the victim’s now ex-husband. Dominique Pelicot, who turns 72 this week, stared down at the floor, one hand on the handle of his cane, as the prosecutor spoke.

A Town on Trial' will look at Ms Pelicot, a 72-year-old woman drugged by her former husband and abused for a decade by at least 70 strangers he had recruited online.