The authorities have opened an investigation after arresting a woman suspected of the crime
Macabre discovery in the south of France. A 41-year-old woman was arrested yesterday at her home after the lifeless bodies of two newborns were discovered in the freezer of her house in Bédoin, a town near Avignon, in the south of the country. After receiving a call from a man, the gendarmes searched the suspect’s home and discovered the two dead babies in the freezer. It is not yet known whether or not the detained woman is the mother of the two deceased children.
The French authorities have opened a preliminary investigation for the “murder of a child under 15 years of age”. The woman, whose identity has not been made public, is the mother of three children, two of whom lived with her in the house where the bodies were discovered, according to the French press. It was one of her daughters, 16, who gave the alert signal, according to the newspaper ‘La Provence’. The teenager explained that three years ago her mother had given birth alone at her home. Later, a man notified the gendarmes. It is unknown if there is any relationship between this man and the suspect.
“Criminal investigation technicians have conducted investigations at the crime scene. The coroner was present and has issued two death certificates,” Carpentras prosecutor Héléne Mourges explained yesterday at a press conference, who confirmed that the events are “criminal in nature.”
After her arrest, the suspect has been interrogated and subjected to psychological and psychiatric examinations, Mourges explained. During the interrogations, the mother of the family has maintained “changing statements about what happened,” said the prosecutor, who did not want to confirm to the press if the 41-year-old woman has confessed or not to being the author of the crime.
No certainty of relationship
The investigation has just begun and “the autopsy will tell us more,” said the prosecutor, who hoped that it would determine “both the causes and the circumstances of the deaths” of the two deceased babies. At this point in the investigation, “we have no certainty about the relationship” of the newborns and whether or not their mother is the detained woman, explained the prosecutor.
The autopsy will be carried out next Monday at the Nimes medical-forensic institute. While waiting to know the results of the autopsy, the Carpentras prosecutor did not want to give details to the press about the sex of the babies or whether they are twins or were born on different dates. It is also not known how long the newborns had been in the freezer where they were discovered.
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