This large-scale investigation recalls the experiences of Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot.
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The suspects, whose identities are not being disclosed under Dutch privacy rules, were arrested after police, based on information shared by German and United Kingdom (UK) authorities, searched several homes across the country over two days last week, police said in a statement released on Thursday.
“Information indicates that several women in the Netherlands were possibly drugged by individuals from their close environment. Sexual acts were later performed on the victims, and they were filmed at the time,” police said.
It is added that these men are suspected of using social media chat groups and posting images of sexual abuse there, as well as information on how best to drug people.
It is not yet clear how many people were abused. Police are trying to identify the victims from images on phones and computers seized during last week’s raids.
“However, what is clear is that this is a case with a huge impact,” said Milou van der Kolk from the Rotterdam sexual crimes investigation team in the police statement.
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“As a victim, you may not know what happened to you because you could have been drugged and unconscious. The knowledge that your partner or acquaintance may have drugged you and perhaps even raped you or attempted to do so can completely turn your life upside down,” the officer said.
Police did not rule out the possibility of more arrests being made during the investigation.
In December 2024, G. Pelicot’s ex-husband Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men were convicted of sexual violence against her between 2011 and 2020, when she was drugged. D. Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while the other defendants received prison sentences ranging from three to 15 years.
D. Pelicot, to whom G. Pelicot was married for almost 50 years, admitted that for many years he mixed sedatives into his wife’s food and drinks so that he could abuse her and invite other men to do the same.
