The defendant’s lawyers asked to raise, in the alternative, the question of assault and battery leading to death without intention to cause it, with two aggravating circumstances: the child’s minority and authority over the child. as cohabitant.
Assizes of Hainaut: Aïssa Mokhtari tried for the murder of a young 18-month-old boy, in Jumet
Among the witnesses heard, Diden’s mother, who was absent at the time of the incident. The latter had entrusted custody of her son to her companion, Aïssa Mokhtari, accused of the child’s murder. “Beaten during my youth, I would never have accepted that anyone would hurt him. He was magnificent, I miss him so much”says the one who already lost a little girl around ten years ago.
The young woman raised her son alone. The father, civil party, explains that he took care of his son and taught him to walk on his first birthday. He entered prison on July 4, 2021 and has not seen his son since.
The mother met Aïssa Mokhtari in January 2021. On May 14, the accused, who helped her a lot, moved in with her. Following Diden’s illness, suffering from bacteria in his hip, Aïssa Mokhtari undertook to take care of the child. “They were very close, Aïssa took good care of him, he taught her lots of things”relate-t-elle.
The couple smoked cannabis together, three joints in the evening for her and a few more for him during the day. On the other hand, she could not stand that her companion used cocaine. Likewise, at the request of her partner, Aïssa had reduced her consumption of Lyrica, going from eight to one pill per day.
When she left her son on the morning of September 28, 2021, the child was in good health and had taken a shower. He had bruises on his body and some lesions on his head, but she wasn’t worried. “because his skin marked very quickly”. Diden had an older brother with whom he sometimes bickered, “admittedly a little rough with him, but he loved him”says the mother.
Death of a one and a half year old child, Aissa remains detained
The young woman went to training. She sent the accused a message at ten o’clock, then a call at noon. “I heard Diden talking about Mickey, everything seemed normal to me. Aïssa told me that he had given him something to eat and that he was going to wash him afterwards.”
She then received several phone calls from her partner, while she was in the middle of class. “He was panicked. He told me that he had left him alone in the bathtub. I understood because I had told him not to leave Diden alone. I called the emergency services. When I got home , I found my son on the table”she explains, bursting into tears.
Suspected of having mistreated her son, the young woman was angry with the medical profession, swearing that she never harmed her children. She still doesn’t understand why the child had a swollen testicle.
Regular prison visits
The young woman regularly visits her partner in prison with whom they discussed the facts. “He accepts that my son died because of him”but he maintains that he did not kill him.
Finally, she states that the accused was a surrogate father for her children. She has had several life partners, and the accused is the only one, she says, who has never been violent with her and her children.
Debates on guilt will take place on Wednesday.
