“I have the impression that we are all living a nightmare”: the mayor of Conches-en-Ouche, Jérôme Pasco, summed up the state of mind of the 400 to 500 people gathered in front of the steps of the town hall , to pay tribute to a three-year-old girl, who died in the town after alleged violence at the hands of her mother and stepfather.
The elected official paid tribute to the little girl, her brother and her father and called for “means to act to better protect our children, to better fight against domestic violence”. Some people brought white roses which they then placed in the garden adjoining the town hall. Sylvie Maurouard, 67 years old, resident of Conches, came “for meditation. No one has ever reported anything, I don’t understand,” she lamented.
“Violence that is difficult to sustain”
The little girl’s stepfather and mother were indicted and placed in pre-trial detention after the child’s death on Sunday at Rouen University Hospital, after emergency services intervened at the family home. She had multiple hematomas of different ages on “the face, the four limbs, the thorax, the back, the pubis”, had specified the public prosecutor of Evreux Rémi Coutin and she “would not have been in school the week preceding the tragedy.
“Neither the gendarmerie, nor the justice system, nor the child welfare services had been informed” of the “difficult to bear violence” suffered by the little girl, added Rémi Coutin. The stepfather and mother were known to the courts.
“The executioners are not in our schools”
The director of the nursery school, where the girl attended middle school, was suspended as a precautionary measure. “The executioners are not in our schools,” declared the mayor, “we all have a share of responsibility,” he insisted. “How is it that in this town people are able to call me when the neighbor’s dog is yelling too loudly and I was never warned about what was going on there? », was moved by Jérôme Pasco before a minute of silence.
“We must be careful about witch hunting and scapegoating,” added Alexandre Rassaërt, president of the Department of Eure, on the sidelines of the ceremony.