By Chris King • Published: 17 Sep 2023 • 19:37
Image of French National Police officer. Credit: Obatala-photography/Shutterstock.com
THE partially frozen body of a six-year-old boy was discovered in the French city of Perpignan on Thursday, September 14.
His body was found by police officers who had been alerted to the situation by an employee of the city’s funeral home. It is alleged that the boy’s father contacted the company to enquire about the possibility of repatriating his son’s body to Algeria despite the absence of a death certificate.
On arrival at the apartment located in the Bas Vernet district of Cité des Peupliers, the police verified that the boy’s body was lying lifeless in a bathtub. His body displayed multiple bruises and was partially frozen.
Perpignan’s public prosecutor Jean-David Cavaillé informed leparisien.fr on Thursday that the deceased boy’s two little sisters were also hospitalised. One of them was reportedly unconscious and their bodies showed ‘traces of multiple trauma’, including broken teeth.
The sisters were taken to the hospital by Cherif B, their 33-year-old uncle. Once the girls were placed in the care of the facility’s staff, the man was taken into police custody.
According to the news outlet, the semi-unconscious body of 28-year-old Salim B was also found lying on the floor not far from the bathtub. His neck was ‘self-tied’ with the power cable of an electric drill they detailed.
In a statement, Cavaillé reported: ‘The two girls, aged two and three, bear traces of multiple trauma. They remain hospitalised. The two men have already been convicted, notably for domestic violence’.
BFMTV reported on Friday 15 that a source informed them that the dead boy’s grandmother had also been arrested on Thursday, on suspicion of murdering a child and the concealment of a corpse. She had initially been questioned as a witness.
On Friday, the Perpignan public prosecutor’s office announced that it had opened an investigation into the murder of a child, attempted murder, violence against children by an adult, kidnapping, concealment of corpses and forgery and use of forgery. The investigation was placed in the hands of the Perpignan judicial police.
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Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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