This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/20/french-woman-fabienne-kabou-trial-daughter-beach
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| French woman goes on trial accused of leaving daughter to die on beach | French woman goes on trial accused of leaving daughter to die on beach |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A French woman has gone on trial accused of leaving her 15-month-old daughter to die on a beach as temperatures dropped below freezing. | A French woman has gone on trial accused of leaving her 15-month-old daughter to die on a beach as temperatures dropped below freezing. |
| Fabienne Kabou, 39, who is said to be “extremely intelligent … but subject to irrational beliefs”, travelled to Berck-sur-Mer with her only child, Adélaïde, in November 2013. | Fabienne Kabou, 39, who is said to be “extremely intelligent … but subject to irrational beliefs”, travelled to Berck-sur-Mer with her only child, Adélaïde, in November 2013. |
| Kabou checked into a hotel and asked locals about the tides before reportedly breastfeeding the child on the beach that night and leaving her as the sea came in. The girl’s body was discovered by a prawn fisherman the following day. | Kabou checked into a hotel and asked locals about the tides before reportedly breastfeeding the child on the beach that night and leaving her as the sea came in. The girl’s body was discovered by a prawn fisherman the following day. |
| Kabou told police she had chosen the town, on France’s Channel coast between Calais and Dieppe, because “even the name sounded sad”. Berck sounds like yuck in French. | |
| According to French press reports, Kabou described walking on to the beach. “I stopped at one point. She gave a small jump as if she’d just woken up. She was looking for my breast, I gave it to her. I remained standing and I clutched her against me and then, I don’t know, I said: ‘Non, non, non.’ I couldn’t stop saying ‘non’, I don’t know why. I cried. It was as if I was saying to someone: ‘I can’t do something like that,’ but I did it.” | According to French press reports, Kabou described walking on to the beach. “I stopped at one point. She gave a small jump as if she’d just woken up. She was looking for my breast, I gave it to her. I remained standing and I clutched her against me and then, I don’t know, I said: ‘Non, non, non.’ I couldn’t stop saying ‘non’, I don’t know why. I cried. It was as if I was saying to someone: ‘I can’t do something like that,’ but I did it.” |
| She continued: “I saw the spray and I must have left Ada at five metres, perhaps two. In any case, she would have drowned straight away. I don’t know how fast the tide came in but it was very close. I put her down, I spoke to her, I told her I was sorry. She was fine, I think. She didn’t feel in danger, I was next to her, on my knees. I gave her a long hug … she wasn’t exactly asleep but she was calm … I don’t know how long I stayed there, saying I was sorry, talking to her. Then I turned on my heels and I ran.” | She continued: “I saw the spray and I must have left Ada at five metres, perhaps two. In any case, she would have drowned straight away. I don’t know how fast the tide came in but it was very close. I put her down, I spoke to her, I told her I was sorry. She was fine, I think. She didn’t feel in danger, I was next to her, on my knees. I gave her a long hug … she wasn’t exactly asleep but she was calm … I don’t know how long I stayed there, saying I was sorry, talking to her. Then I turned on my heels and I ran.” |
| The next day Kabou returned to Paris by train. | The next day Kabou returned to Paris by train. |
| Kabou, born in Dakar, Senegal, was raised in a well-off Catholic family and was described as a brilliant student. She is said to have an IQ of 130, well above average. She moved to France in 1995, where she abandoned an architecture course after two years and embarked on a philosophy degree. | Kabou, born in Dakar, Senegal, was raised in a well-off Catholic family and was described as a brilliant student. She is said to have an IQ of 130, well above average. She moved to France in 1995, where she abandoned an architecture course after two years and embarked on a philosophy degree. |
| She terminated two pregnancies before in 2012 giving birth to Adélaïde alone at the art studio she shared with the child’s father, Michel Lafon, a painter and sculptor 30 years her senior. She had not consulted a doctor during the pregnancy and neither parent registered the birth with the authorities, so there was no official record of Adélaïde, who was named after her grandmother. | She terminated two pregnancies before in 2012 giving birth to Adélaïde alone at the art studio she shared with the child’s father, Michel Lafon, a painter and sculptor 30 years her senior. She had not consulted a doctor during the pregnancy and neither parent registered the birth with the authorities, so there was no official record of Adélaïde, who was named after her grandmother. |
| Kabou told detectives she heard voices persecuting her and evil forces that drove her to kill her daughter. The trial in Saint-Omer is expected to last a week. | Kabou told detectives she heard voices persecuting her and evil forces that drove her to kill her daughter. The trial in Saint-Omer is expected to last a week. |