Doha-a 17-year-old French teenage of Moroccan origin called Yanis committed suicide on March 30 after he found out that the man who had sexually abused him had been released from prison and lived only three kilometers from his house.
The tragedy happened In Haute-Savoie, East France, where Yanis lived with his family in the city of Thyez. His abuse, a 58-year-old man who was a former neighbor and family friend, was released in February after serving a five-year prison sentence for only two years and four months.
“You don’t leave anyone free who knows that he lives near the person who attacked them!” Delphine, Yanis mother, told the media in an explanation.
Yanis father Farid randomly discovered the release of the perpetrator during a conversation with a friend. He decided to inform his son instead of risking that Yanis meet the man unexpectedly.
Three days after learning this news, Yanis posted on Instagram: “The man who took three years of my life is less than 3 km from my home.”
Shortly afterwards, on March 30th, the teenager took a fatal overdose of medication. In a farewell letter in his phone, he expressly cited the release and closeness of his perpetrator as reasons for his suicide.
The case has uncovered serious gaps in the Justice System of France regarding the protection of victims of sexual abuse. While victims of domestic violence have to be notified if their perpetrators are released from prison in December 2021, there is no such requirement for victims of sexual attacks.
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The prosecutor of Bonneville, Boris Duffau, claims that Yanis family received a letter in which they were informed about the release of his perpetrator, but the parents insist that they have never received him.
The perpetrator was put under electronic monitoring and forbidden to contact Yanis or other minors, but no geographical restrictions were imposed to keep him away from the victim’s residence.
“I have hate against this system that does not protect children, the victims of sexual attacks are,” said Farid, expressing his anger about the legal proceedings.
The abuser, who had previously been convicted of minors in 2007 and 2014 for similar crimes, recognized a certain responsibility for Yanis’ death. “I have a small part of the responsibility, but I can’t endure the entire burden on this suicide,” he said in an interview.
The tragedy has prompted claims for legislative change. Steffy Alexandrian, President of “Carl”, an association that supports victims of sexual violence in children, is committed to a “Jaya law” (using Yanis’ nickname).
The law would request the judicial authorities to systematically inform smaller victims of sex crimes before their perpetrators are released from prison.
According to the Unicef statistics mentioned in the reports, a child is victim of incest. rapeOr sexual attacks every three minutes in France.
Yanis family now calls on Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin to implement legal provisions in order to better inform the victims and establish distance measures to prevent similar tragedies. Yanis would have celebrated his 18th birthday on April 2 only a few days after his death.
