Little Malek, eight, was found safe and sound with her father in Italy, according to a source familiar with the matter. A kidnapping alert was triggered Wednesday evening, then lifted Thursday. According to a second source familiar with the matter, they were found in Genoa and the man who had kidnapped his daughter Malek was arrested. An investigation for intentional homicide by spouse and kidnapping of a minor has been opened by the Dunkirk prosecutor. The wife of Jamel Younès, the father of the little girl, was also found dead at the couple’s home in the city of Hauts-de-France.
According to the press release from the prosecution, the Dunkirk police discovered the lifeless body of Jamel Younès’ companion, Sonia M., around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, after being alerted by her mother who “worried” about her silence. “Multiple bruises” were found on his body by the medical examiner. An autopsy was ordered.
Three children present at the mother’s home
Three children – aged 7, two and a half and 7 months, according to the second source familiar with the matter – were present at the mother’s home, the statement said. But the little Malek “from a first union of Jamel Younès”, was, she, not found and “probably taken by her father”.
According to a third source close to the case, Jamel Younès, 40, is an asylum seeker of Tunisian nationality, known to the police and the justice system. The 29-year-old mother presented, in addition to bruises, traces of strangulation, added this source, specifying that the couple had “experienced disputes” in the past. In front of the family building, in a popular district of Dunkirk, neighbors corroborate the hypothesis of a violent man towards his companion.