The children are now out of danger. The father who kidnapped his two little boys on Monday in Fourmies (North), triggering a kidnapping alert, was still in police custody Tuesday afternoon, said the Avesnes-sur-Helpe prosecutor, Laurent Dumaine.
On Monday, around 1:10 p.m., Nassim, two and a half years old, and Mohammed, five years old, were kidnapped by their father from the parking lot of a supermarket in Fourmies. The man had threatened the children's mother with a knife before fleeing in a vehicle, the prosecutor reported Tuesday in a press release.
The mother, equipped with a “serious danger” telephone since January 13, the day before the release from detention of the accused who had been convicted of domestic violence committed against her, immediately raised the alarm. Generalized in France since 2014, the grave danger telephone (TGD) is a mobile telephone given to victims of domestic violence who are in a situation of great insecurity. This tool allows them to alert law enforcement as a priority.
Already convicted 14 times
Soldiers from the Fourmies gendarmerie brigade immediately went to the scene and took care of the victim, continued the Avesnes-sur-Helpe public prosecutor's office. An investigation was opened, in particular for “intentional violence with a weapon against an ex-spouse or partner in the presence of minors”.
Despite several searches carried out in the vicinity of Valenciennes, the children and the father remained untraceable for a long time, said the prosecutor. Also the prosecution decided to trigger the kidnapping alert system at 7:30 p.m.
-Shortly afterwards, the father's vehicle was located in Beuvrages, some 80 km from Fourmies. “Warned by a member of his family and probably knowing he was wanted”, the man left a home where he had taken refuge with his children to flee. Spotted by investigators, he abandoned his children, who were then rescued by the police.
The father, already convicted 14 times, including three for violence, was finally arrested at 9:30 p.m. while he was trying to hide in a private person's garden. He was immediately taken into custody.
The children, examined by a forensic doctor, “presented no physical injury or trace of a blow and appeared in good health,” according to the prosecutor. They were returned to their mother, taken care of and directed to new accommodation, kept secret, intended for victims of intra-family violence, he added.
