While some point to "
dysfunctions of justice
" in the case of the conjugal murder in Hayange, Valentine, she can not help seeing an echo of her own story. Since 2015, this mother of two children, aged 10 and 16, has not stopped alerting the authorities about her ex-boyfriend. The latter, despite two handrails and five complaints for spousal violence, harassment and death threats, is still free. “
He has been declared criminally irresponsible and can therefore stay outside. He is neither in prison nor in a psychiatric hospital
”, tells
Le Figaro
Valentine.
With fear in her stomach, the mother of the family has only one fear: that her torturer will come and get her to assassinate her in front of her little daughter, still a minor, and of whom she has obtained custody.
Read also: Seine-et-Marne: doctors can break medical secrecy to report domestic violence to justice
Contacted by
Le Figaro
, the court of Créteil indicated that the defendant was the subject of two reminders to the law, the first for facts of "domestic violence without incapacity for work" which took place in 2015, and the second for acts of “violation of the protection order” which took place in 2016. “
The two other acts of violation of the protection order as well as most of the complaints for domestic violence were dismissed, for offense insufficiently characterized, i.e. due to lack of evidence. But there was civil support which is indisputable: Madam received a protection order and a TGD
[Telephone Grave Danger note], specifies the prosecution.
An investigation was also opened at the beginning of May for acts of harassment by ascendant on the son of the couple.
"Tonight, it's you or me"
Valentine's life has been on the lookout since she filed her first complaint in 2016. “
I met my ex-partner when I was 20 years old. Over the years, the violence has increased. I was hospitalized twice and attempted suicide. Each time, he would tell me it wouldn't happen again, and each time, I would go back and it would start again. He would tell the children to go upstairs. I remember one night when, while the children were sleeping, he hung me up and sprayed me with gasoline, threatening me with a lighter. In the evening, I tried to fall asleep with my daughter: I told myself that, like that, he would not come to get me, but he did it anyway, and he locked me in the basement
», Reports Valentine. Until the day he sequesters the young woman at home. This is the last straw for Valentine, who decides to "
jump on the highway
".
She "
invents a story
" to get out. Her husband insists on accompanying her. Inside, an argument breaks out. The man comes out, "
he takes the rearview mirror and throws it in my face,
" she recalls. Opposite, a pharmacy attends the scene and immediately warns the authorities, who take Valentine to the emergency room. "
I am hospitalized, and, the same evening, he sends me a picture of a gun with a text message that says: 'tonight, it's you or me'
". In tears, Valentine shows the photo to the nurses, who notify the police. A search was carried out at the home of the accused, and the police seized "
a homemade bomb and weapons
", specifies Valentine's lawyer, Me Joann Dalipagic. "
He had decided that he was in possession of my life and that I would die when he decided,
”blows the mother of the family.
Read also: Domestic violence: too slow implementation of protection measures
The man is placed in police custody, but an expert report establishes that his psychiatric condition is not compatible with a criminal sanction.
“
He was neither tried nor prosecuted.
He was placed in a psychiatric hospital for a few weeks, then came out,
”reports Mr. Dalipagic.
"
He finds me and violates me again
", remembers Valentine, "
I file a complaint and, 15 days later, I am summoned by the police station, without knowing that I will be confronted.
I see him crying, saying it's me who didn't want to fix things.
I learned later that he was declared criminally irresponsible
”.
Protection order
In 2016, the couple's two children were placed in emergency care, the children's judge noting, during a hearing, that the children were in "a
situation of imminent danger
", and an investigation was opened. Valentine obtains from the court of Créteil a protection order pronouncing the prohibition of contact and the joint exercise of parental authority to both parents. His ex-companion is therefore prohibited from approaching the home of his victim, but this is not enough to reassure Valentine. “
For 2 years, I have no fixed address. I'm going to sleep with friends. I'm hiding
“, Summarizes Valentine, who prefers not to have a permanent address, for fear that her husband will find his address through the documents relating to the education of the children. Valentine is rebuilding herself and, in 2018, she obtains custody of her daughter as well as exclusive parental authority. The father, for his part, only obtains a mediatized visitation right. The couple's son remains placed, "
because he had found a balance and did not want to leave it
".
Valentine is then reassured but the lull is short-lived: in January 2020, it is his son's turn to file a complaint against his father, for "harassment and psychological violence from the ascendant".
"
He sends messages of a sexual nature to my son, text messages where he offers him drugs, weapons, where he insults him or me,
" reports the mother.
Her son, André *, lodged a total of three complaints against his father for acts of harassment.
To read also: Murder of Stéphanie in Hayange: did justice fail?
“
The complaints accumulated between 2015 and 2021 for violence by spouse and harassment from the ascendant, and, each time, Monsieur was placed in police custody. But there was no criminal response because, each time, Monsieur's psychiatric disorders interrupted the proceedings. Regarding the custody of the children, he appealed each time the decisions taken by the children's judge
, ”reports Mr. Dalipagic. By dint of appealing, the husband finally wins his case: since May, Valentine no longer has exclusive parental authority and, provided that the father presents proof of follow-up by a psychiatrist, the latter can again see his daughter in the presence of a third party. "
My client was deprived of his children, in other words. This is why joint parental authority was decided, to balance the file. Even if my client is a complicated person, he is also a father,
”underlines Me Pierre-Olivier Levi, the lawyer for the respondent.
Automatically, the order of protection enjoyed by Valentine falls. “
I don't understand why this decision was made. In cases of domestic violence, children are not recognized as victims, and they are as much as I am. I see it on my daughter: one evening, when I was saying goodnight to her, she said to me, 'Mom, what knife did Papa have when he wanted to kill you?'. So why perpetuate a toxic and harmful bond? Why are I and my children no longer protected?
". "
This is the question we all ask ourselves
", agrees the lawyer of Valentine, affirming that the case of this mother of a family would also be the symptom of "
serious dysfunctions of justice
": "
police officers and magistrates are not trained in cases of domestic violence. Sometimes they don't even know how the hold phenomenon works, which explains why these women are constantly ambivalent. Others do not understand that domestic violence is not only physical violence, but also psychological violence
”, explains the lawyer.
Asked about the lack of protection for the mother of the family, the Créteil prosecutor's office underlines to Le
Figaro
that "
the decision of May 2021 of the Court of Appeal puts an end to Madame's authorization to sign only the administrative acts related to the children's schooling and authorizes Monsieur to see his daughter within the framework of mediatized visits, but Monsieur cannot have access to the address of Madame since Madame is domiciled, in the procedure, at the association of which she is a member. But if Madame has fears, she can approach her association to see what can be done, as well as re-enter the family affairs judge (JAF) to ask for a new protection order
”.
Me Levi, for his part, calls for "
not to make my client the violent number one by making him wear the hat
". “
I have no knowledge of acts of physical violence, only acts of verbal violence. As far as I know, Madame has never been kidnapped, and I am astonished that her complaints were unsuccessful. At the time, my client was taken into custody, he was interviewed, but these facts were never discussed: they are unverifiable and unverified
”, assures the lawyer, stressing that the former spouse of Valentine felt “
rejected
”. For Mr. Dalipagic, dropping the protection order by restoring joint parental authority is "
a big gamble
": "
so far, we have been lucky that he does not violate this contact ban.
But today, if he wanted to find my client, he could
”.
* The first name has been changed
