More than 250 people marched in silence on Tuesday in Montreuil in tribute to Assia, a discreet resident of this city of Seine-Saint-Denis, strangled and then dismembered by her husband and whose body was found in February in the Parc des Buttes – Chaumont.
“I’m sorry Assia, we weren’t able to protect you, because we didn’t know, maybe we didn’t take a good look, we didn’t listen to you”, said, moved, Roselyne Rollier, president of the Maison des femmes de Montreuil, before other speeches.
More than 250 people present
More than 250 people – families, young people, the elderly and a dozen tricolor scarves – had set off at the start of the evening from the Jean Moulin district, where Assia lived with her husband and three children.
The dismembered body of this 46-year-old mother was discovered on February 13 and 14, scattered in the famous Buttes-Chaumont park, in the 19th arrondissement.
Her husband, born in 1972, had reported the disappearance of his wife to the police on February 6. He was finally indicted and imprisoned on February 25 for “murder by spouse”, after admitting the facts. The couple’s three children were taken care of.
“A brave and strong woman”
Assia is one of three women killed by their spouse since the start of 2023 in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis alone. Assia “was a courageous and strong woman, victim of domestic violence which ultimately led to her death”, testified Leïla El Mahi, close friend of the family too marked to speak. “We must commit to providing (women) security options,” she said, before reading a poem about orphaned children.
“It’s very sensitive because I’ve already been hit. When you pass by, you know what it is, ”testified to AFP Mpoli, a 65-year-old retiree, who would have liked more residents to join the march. For Inès Sefiane, 18-year-old Montreuilloise, from the collective “Maux aux mots de la République”, being present, “it’s feminist, but it’s a solidarity action above all”.
The number of feminicides had increased by 20% in France in 2021 compared to 2020, with 122 women killed under the blows of their spouse or ex-spouse, according to the latest figures available from the Ministry of the Interior.