The prosecution of Saint-Étienne (Loire) opened a judicial investigation for “kidnapping and sequestration”, “death threats” and “violence with a weapon”. A 39-year-old man is suspected of having forcibly abducted, late Monday morning in Saint-Etienne, a 23-year-old woman. He allegedly hit her with an iron bar, then confined her for several hours.
The young woman was at a friend’s house when the individual got off and forced her into the car with him, relate Progress which reveals the case. A large device, made up of around sixty police officers, assisted by a gendarmerie helicopter, was deployed to find the victim. It was finally a witness, intrigued by a car parked in a municipal road on the heights of Saint-Etienne, who gave the alert.
Hospitalized in shock
The suspect was arrested with his victim, safe and sound, in the middle of the woods. According to the public prosecutor, the man would have had “intimate relations” in the past with the victim. He would also have already sent death threats to the young woman, precise France Bleu.
The latter was hospitalized, in a state of shock, to carry out a medical-psychological assessment, while the suspect was placed in police custody.