A young woman, nineteen years old, was summoned last Thursday to the criminal court of Saint Martin as a victim: she was sexually abused by her father for seven years. When the events began, she was unable to assess their seriousness. She was only eight years old. "At first I didn't know it was not normal," she says.
The mother suspected nothing. When her daughter told her about it, it was in 2017. Once they left home after Irma had gone to Martinique for a few months.
The mother and daughter have joined as civil parties and claim 15 and 000 euros respectively in respect of non-pecuniary damage.
In accordance with the prosecution's requisitions, the court sentenced the father to seven years in prison and issued an arrest warrant. It will also be entered in the automated judicial index of perpetrators of sexual offenses. He must also compensate the victims.
After the deliberation, the mother cannot hold back a few tears. Definitely of relief.
As for her daughter, she shows herself once more strong. She comes to tell me that she graduated last June. "You can put it in the article too!" She insists.
Then she phones her employer to find out if she should sign a document.
A few minutes earlier, she had explained to the court that "what had happened, it sometimes stressed her but that she was trying to forget".
Before leaving the courthouse, they each shake their lawyer in turn. (soualigapost.com)
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