a father kills his two children aged four and seven and commits suicide

A man killed his two children aged four and seven before committing suicide on Tuesday in Avirons, in the south-west of the island of Reunion, the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Saint-Pierre de la Réunion announced on Tuesday .

In a press release, Carole Pantalacci indicated that “the first findings allow us to consider a double murder followed by the suicide of the father of the family”. From a source close to the case, a woman who was at her workplace called the police around 9:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m. in Paris) after receiving worrying messages from her partner.

The bodies of the two children in a shed

On site, in Les Avirons, the gendarmes discovered in a shed the lifeless bodies of the couple's two children aged four and seven, as well as that of the father who, according to the first elements collected, committed suicide. Very shocked, the mother was hospitalized, the same source added.

The investigations were entrusted to the Saint-Pierre research brigade and the Saint-Denis research section, the gendarmerie told AFP. “The autopsies of the bodies will be carried out in the coming days and will clarify the exact causes of death,” the vice-prosecutor said in her press release.

Great emotion

The facts caused great emotion in Reunion. Hundreds of Internet users posted messages of condolence and support to the victims' families on social networks.

According to the annual study by the Ministerial Statistical Service for Internal Security (SSMSI), in 2023 Reunion was ranked second nationally behind Pas-de-Calais in terms of domestic violence, with 14.6 female victims per 1000 inhabitants.