The prosecutor of Compiègne in the Oise expressed her anger three days ago in a post on the professional network LinkedIn. The object of his wrath: the passivity of elected officials regarding known domestic violence while theArticle 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure compels any authority, any public officer, any official to notify the prosecutor of the crimes and misdemeanors of which he is aware, she recalls in capital letters.
This week, a septuagenarian went to the Compiègne gendarmerie to file a complaint for a burglary. At the end of the audition, she shyly says that her husband has been hitting her for over 50 years. The confession dropped, the woman fled, fearful, she confides “to take one if he learns that she has spoken”. The investigator notifies the prosecution. The alleged perpetrator, the husband is arrested. In police custody, he will minimize the facts.
Heard again, the wife details the violence, shows a huge scar dating from 1984, a wound with a broken bottle while the gentleman had been drinking. The search of the couple’s farm reveals a gun, ammunition and then account books in which the septuagenarian recorded the violence suffered: “Today my face is bloody. He didn’t say anything.” The humiliations are repeated over the pages where she also notes her attempts to call for help. In 2020, it is written: “Call gendarmerie and town hall”.
The former mayor of the village, the current one, and his deputy, heard by the gendarmes, admit having collected some words from the victim. “I did not seek to know more”admits one of them. “There were a lot of rumours”, concedes another. The third, who received it, did not ask any more questions.
The psychiatric expertise of battered women over 50 is instructive: “Major psychological impact, death anxiety, post-traumatic stress, complete trivialization of the violence suffered”.
In her post on LinkedIn, the prosecutor mentions in particular that the septuagenarian “today regrets having spoken to the gendarme, because her elderly husband was incarcerated one night” and “her sons let her down: she exaggerates, she often pushed our father to the limit… So yes, the latter could have made unfortunate gestures”.
Domestic violence: the role of elected officials is not “to investigate” but the law asks them “to report the facts”, explains Marie Lawrysz, public prosecutor of the judicial court of Compiègne. pic.twitter.com/SYrNfPvBBX
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Judged in immediate appearance, the husband received a two-year suspended prison sentence, and a ban on appearing on the family farm. His weapon was also taken away from him.