Dominique Pelicot may have recruited dozens of men to rape his drugged wife out of “revenge” for her having an extramarital affair, according to a written judgment by magistrates.

The 72-year-old French pensioner was on Thursday given a 20-year sentence at the Vaucluse criminal court in Avignon, southern France, for aggravated rape of his former wife Gisèle.

Some 50 other men were all found guilty of charges from sexual assault to aggravated rape against Ms Pelicot, who was unaware of the decades of abuse she had suffered at her husband’s hands until police stumbled on footage of their acts.

The defendants were handed sentences of three to 15 years in prison.

In the written judgment seen by Le Monde, the magistrates wondered whether Dominique Pelicot’s motives for abusing his wife and the choice of men recruited online were at least partially out of revenge for an affair Gisèle had with a work colleague.