Dominique Pelicot has admitted to drugging his ex-wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade, and is begging for his family’s forgiveness.

The 71-year-old’s hearing on Tuesday, the centrepiece of one of France’s most spectacular criminal trials in recent history, had to be delayed last week due to his bad health.

He faces multiple charges including rape, gang rape and privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images.

Pelicot appeared in court with a cane on Tuesday morning and spoke to the judge through a microphone with his lawyer saying he had taken heavy medication and was allowed to take breaks to lie down throughout the day.

“I am a rapist just like all the others in this room,” he said, adding: “I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable.”

The case has shocked the country and triggered nationwide protests in support of his wife Gisele, who has become a symbol of the struggle against sexual violence in France.

Pelicot told the courtroom he had a difficult upbringing and had himself been a victim of rape, breaking into tears during his testimony.

He said he had wanted his wife to participate in partner swaps and her refusal, together with trauma from his youth, had helped to trigger his abusive behaviour.

“It became a perversion, an addiction,” he told the courtroom.

Pelicot, who said he had filmed the acts of abuse as an insurance policy against the men involved, said he had been the victim of blackmail as a result of his activities.

Gisele Pelicot was in the courtroom, wearing sunglasses during her former husband’s appearance on the stand. She was greeted with applause by spectators when she left during breaks.

She had insisted on a public trial to expose her ex-husband and the other men accused of raping her.

“For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts of rape,” she said.

Gisele Pelicot began divorce proceedings after meeting with investigators over the case.

Prosecutors have said Dominique Pelicot, who was initially arrested after filming up a woman’s skirt in a supermarket, offered sex with his then-wife on a website called Coco and filmed the abuse.

In addition to Pelicot, 50 other men, currently aged 26 to 74, are also on trial on rape charges in the southern city of Avignon. Pelicot has said a total of 72 men participated in the abuse of his then-wife.

While some of the defendants admitted guilt to the investigators, others have said they believed they were enacting a couple’s fantasy and that Gisele Pelicot had in fact consented to sex.

Investigators found 300 photographs and a video of the acts and filed them in folders, including one titled “Abuse,” according to a court document.

Gisele Pelicot told investigators that she had suffered from memory lapses and had consulted a gynaecologist for unexplained pains.

The trial is set to last through December. If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.