Mother Suspected in Disabled Daughters’ Disappearance Released After 4 Years in Custody

After four years and three months of pre-trial detention, Naïma B., the mother of Inès and Nawal, two disabled girls who have been missing since December 2016, regains her freedom, but remains under judicial supervision. She had been arrested and indicted in September 2017 for "aggravated voluntary homicide," recalls France 3.

The police have never found the bodies of the girls. As for Naïma B., she has always proclaimed her innocence. Her lawyers are delighted with her release. "We had appealed against the indictment order, because we believe that there is not enough evidence to suggest that the girls are deceased," said Me Sophie Grolleau, who is defending her with Me Patrick Lamarque.

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The two girls, aged 11 and 13 at the time of their disappearance, suffered from several disabilities. They could neither eat nor move on their own. Their mother, Naïma B., was the only one to take care of them, after their father abandoned them at the birth of the second child. Nawal and Inès were placed in a specialized and medicalized institute before their disappearance. They never returned there until the announcement of their disappearance in 2017.

At the beginning of the investigation, Naïma B. had declared that she had sent her daughters to Morocco. Then she changed her version, swearing that she had entrusted them to a couple she had met in Spain, without giving more details. "From the beginning, my client has been repeating that she did not kill them. She does not trust the medical institutions, because her daughters experienced too many difficulties there," assures Me Grolleau. Naïma B. persists and signs that her daughters are safe, but without indicating any locations, fearing that their custody may be taken away from her. For the moment, she remains free, while the investigating judge of the Agen Court of Appeal, who ordered additional investigation, finds new elements likely to elucidate the case.