The mayor of a French town making headlines for the trial of dozens of men accused of rapes that occurred there for almost a decade has apologized for comments that appeared to downplay the case.

The mayor of the French town where a man for over a decade brought strangers to rape his wife apologised on Friday for remarks that were criticised for playing down the ordeal of the victim.

One of more than 50 men accused of raping Frenchwoman Gisele Pelicot in a mass rape case that has shocked the world told her in court on Thursday that he was sorry for what he did.