A man and a woman aged 31 and 28 were sentenced on Tuesday July 27 by the Criminal Court of Castres, in the Tarn, for "human trafficking" and "extortion",
the deputy prosecutor
told
Le Figaro.
of the Republic of Castres Claire Marie de Agostini, confirming information from
La Dépêche
.
Coming from the community of Travelers, they were sentenced to 3 and 5 years in prison respectively.
To read also: Gard: a couple taken into custody for having exploited a man "like a slave"
The victim, a 31-year-old man, crosses paths with his tormentors for the first time while on the street.
The couple offers him, in December 2019, to come and live with them, which the man accepts.
For a period of 7 months, it is thus lodged with Travelers.
But the accommodation conditions are far from ideal: housed at the back of a garage, the thirty-something is prohibited from having free access to the toilets and the fridge, and, according to the parquet floor, only one meal a day for him. is served.
During the day, "
he serves as a driver for the family and has to perform multiple manual tasks, such as mowing the lawn or even completely redoing the parquet
", continues Claire Marie de Agostini.
On July 13, 2020, the victim managed to escape and went directly to the Castres police station to denounce the mistreatment to which he was subjected. The next day, the father of the family is placed in police custody and a judicial investigation is opened. Investigators then discovered that not only was this homeless man not paid for his work, but also that his means of payment had been confiscated and that he was obliged to return all of his income from the RSA to his hosts. "
It was also his responsibility to pay for all the races,
" said the prosecution.
On the day of the hearing, the victim was not present, "
for fear of reprisals
", we are told. The defendants, them, did not recognize the facts with which they were accused, denying having stolen social benefits from the SDF and arguing that they did not have better living conditions than his.
