Overview
- The case began after a home birth that took place Sunday, when the 32-year-old mother was hospitalized and her 32-year-old partner, searching the apartment, discovered what appeared to be human remains inside cardboard boxes.
- Forensic officers found the bones of four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth, and the public prosecutor in Carpentras opened a suspected-homicide investigation and ordered autopsies and anthropological laboratory tests.
- The mother has been taken into custody and reports vary on the partner’s detention status, while investigators have interviewed him and continue to question witnesses and examine the scene.
- The newborn delivered at home was placed in provisional care and child-protection services were notified to assess the couple’s two older children and their welfare.
- Authorities say medical and psychiatric assessments will be needed to explore explanations raised in early reports, including possible denial of pregnancy, and investigators note forensic results will be central to any homicide or infanticide charges; France has seen similar cases that shaped how courts treat altered discernment.