It is a delicate case which has been judged since Monday and for three days at the Pas-de-Calais Assize Court, in Saint-Omer. A 43-year-old woman, originally from Brebières, is accused of having killed her newborn on board a Ouigo train traveling between Lille and Marseille. The latter was appearing for murder of a 15-year-old minor. The facts occurred on September 13, 2021; the child's body was found the next day in the toilets of the TGV, arriving at Marseille Saint-Charles station.
During the first day of hearing, the court discussed at length the personality of the accused and interviewed her relatives, notably his ex-companion, the biological father of the deceased child, who was also in Ouigo at the time of the events. A man who has since filed a civil suit and who assures that he knew nothing about this pregnancy.
At the time of the events, the accused had been in a relationship with this man for approximately a year. With him, and after a previous complicated relationship, she finds balance, but he does not want children. She becomes pregnant but realizes it too late to abort, she chooses to keep the baby but does not warn anyone. “Did you know your partner was pregnant?” begins by asking the president of this fifty-year-old, short and thin, with a bald head and round glasses. “No, I didn’t know anything” he replies, still sorry for not having seen or heard anything.
“I should have tilted…”
Because his ex tried to tell him the news, before the summer of 2021. That day, she innocently asks him if he would be ready to have children again. Answer : “I’m 48 years old, I don’t want to go back into diapers” replies the one who already has a son and two daughters. “Damage” simply answers the one who is already 6 months pregnant but who still doesn't give up.
“Didn’t you notice that she had gained weight?” continues the president. “Yes, maybe 5 kilos, indicates the ex-companion. But we were eating a lot at that time, but I had also gained weight.” “And during sex, she always wore a t-shirt, and hid her stomach, didn't that alert you?” Answer : “No, but I should have tilted…”
Before taking the train on the day of the incident, the accused had severe pain. His companion suggests canceling the vacation, taking him to the hospital. “She told me it was a heavy period, and it would pass.”
What about the entire trip she spends to the Ouigo toilets? Blood found on the train? And his air “not very good” in the photos on arrival? “At the time, I didn’t see anything” repeats the fifty-year-old tirelessly.
The man will finally learn the truth while in police custody. “When I understood, I collapsed…”
