Two days after the death of two girls aged 7 and 4, in Les Avirons, in Reunion, testimonies of fear and support are multiplying on social networks. “We are deeply shocked and outraged by this tragedy. This horror fills us with anger and sadness,” comments the association Osons Ré-agir which “fight against all forms of violence” on the territory. The Idéhal association, which fights in particular against intra-family violence, ” cry “, on his side “these two innocent lives brutally cut short, in an unimaginable act of violence”.
“Mechanical asphyxiation”
This Tuesday, November 26, the lifeless bodies of the two girls were found in a detached house, wrapped in a sheet at the feet of their father, aged around sixty, and found hanging, according to theAFP. According to the results of the autopsies and the first elements of the investigation – opened for intentional homicide and entrusted to the Saint-Pierre Research Brigade – the cause of death of the two girls is “mechanical asphyxia”. The vice-prosecutor of the Republic of Saint-Pierre, Carole Pantalacci, specifies that “the use of a link, a rope or any other object was not retained”. Adding that “additional examinations, in particular toxicological and the exploitation of biological traces and fingerprints, are underway to clarify the exact circumstances and the context of the commission of the facts. »
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The children’s mother was hospitalized Tuesday. A psychological support unit was set up at the Paul Hermann primary school, where the eldest child attended school. The CCAS services of the commune of Avirons have also opened a reception and listening cell this Thursday, November 28 to welcome family members and close friends of the victims. The Nous tous 974 association shared, for its part, a pot created by the mother’s relatives to support her. “Beyond the emotional distress caused by the loss of her two children in such circumstances, she will have to think about terribly concrete things, in particular the funerals of her daughters,” they write to accompany the request for donations.
One of the departments most affected by domestic violence
The prefect of La Réunion, Patrice Latron and Rostane Mehdi, the rector, also “expressed their deep emotion”. Just like the president of the Department, Cyrille Melchior, who described this tragedy as“unsustainable” . “I urge local actors, services and associations working in the field of child protection and the fight against domestic violence, not to give up and to continue to do everything, to prevent such tragedies no longer happen again in Reunion. »
Because the French department is one of the most affected by this violence. On November 12, MP Frédéric Maillot drew the attention of the Minister of Solidarity, Autonomy and Equality between Women and Men to their increase. “Reunion is positioned fourth in the ranking of the French departments most violent towards women and children (2022). In 2022, one in two victims of domestic violence was a child. assures the deputy, who questions the efficiency of the means put in place in Reunion to fight against “this growing and worrying phenomenon. »
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