A 38-year-old woman was stabbed to death at her home on Monday morning in Montélimar (Drôme), by her ex-spouse from whom she had been separated for a few weeks, we learned from the prosecution.
The four children of the victim attended in part the scene, according to the public prosecutor in Valence, Alex Perrin, confirming information from the regional daily Le Dauphiné Libéré.
It is currently unknown whether the 37-year-old assailant is their father.
He was injured in his hand and had to be hospitalized and has not yet been heard by the police.
Unknown to justice
It was neighbors who alerted the police shortly after 7 a.m.
The mother, who had left her apartment on the ground floor of a building, was chased into the hall and died on the spot.
According to the prosecution, the man was not known to justice or the police, and investigators did not find any trace, in their first checks, of a complaint or report from the victim.
In 2020, 102 women (for 23 men) were killed by their spouse or ex-spouse, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior.