- The child is currently in Mauritius with his father
- “It’s been two years since I last saw him,” confides the desperate mother
“Help me… It’s been two years since I saw my son, held him in my arms, gave him a hug, kissed him … I don't know if he's okay, if he's grown up… I don't know anything…” Isaie Marie, 40, is a desperate mother. For two years, this Mauritian woman has moved heaven and earth to find her son, who will be 12 this year. She claims that he was kidnapped by her father, a French national, from whom she separated in March 2021 and against whom she filed a complaint for domestic violence and endangering a minor.
His son and his ex-partner are currently in Mauritius. The child was placed on the Interpol yellow list for kidnapping in France.
“My ex-partner wanted to punish me,” she said, her voice choked with sobs. Isaie Marie says she was in a relationship with him for 15 years. “He is currently 74 years old. » At the start of the relationship, she says, everything was going well. “Afterwards, I began to see his true face. I was the goodie, the handyman. He told me he was the pasha. I had to do everything he told me, otherwise I would get punished…” she confides.
During this period, marked by manipulation, suffering and oppression, she reveals that she was forced to leave her job and depend on her partner, suffering humiliation and physical and emotional abuse. She gave birth to their son in 2012, in Moka, Mauritius.
In 2014, he forced her to return to France to sign documents she did not understand, threatening to separate her from her child if she refused. “I didn’t know the law well at that time. I signed. It was only afterwards that I understood that through this document, I gave him custody of my son,” she said.
After 15 years of living together, Isaie Marie gathered her courage and left the home of her partner, a former police commander. “I was helped by the CIDFF association (Information Center on the Rights of Women and Families) and that’s when I filed a complaint against him. » By providing legal, emotional and practical support, the CIDFF enabled Isaie Marie to obtain her papers and regain her independence. In addition, the CIDFF fought to modify the 2014 judgment rendered by the Nice court, giving Isaie Marie shared parental authority over her son.
On July 22, 2023, another judgment was rendered, placing Isaie Marie's son under the responsibility of Child Welfare. His former companion appealed this judgment before the Aix-en-Provence juvenile court. The said court rejected the appeal and extended the child's placement until June 2024. “The judge also stipulated that my son was prohibited from leaving French territory. »
However, denounces Isaie Marie, her ex-companion had in the meantime already left France for Mauritius, taking their son with him, thus fleeing French justice. “He kidnapped my son and took him to Mauritius. I don’t know when, how…”
Worse, on August 25, 2023, before the Supreme Court, the companion of the septuagenarian, aged 63, attested by affidavit that custody of the child had been entrusted to her to take care of him, relying on the document that was signed by Isaie Marie in 2014 and which has since lapsed. Moreover, this affidavit fails to specify the ban on the child leaving French territory, which casts doubt on its validity. The hazy details surrounding its creation have raised fears that it could be a falsified document, making the already delicate situation even more complex.
This maneuver was carried out behind his back, leaving Isaie Marie helpless and distraught facing the prospect of losing her son forever. “Pou pini mwa, so papa inn koup tou contact telefonik ar mwa. Mo pena mem enn nimero pou tann lavwa mo garson,” she cries.
Today, she is calling for help from the Child Development Unit (CDU): “I am asking the Mauritian authorities to help me find my son and repatriate him to France. My ex-companion is hiding in Mauritius to avoid French justice. »
This mother says she no longer knows which door to knock on. “I called the CDU of Port-Louis, they referred me to the CDU of Plaine-Magnien. I called. Bann-la pe turns mwa an ron…”
However, despite the obstacles and trials, Isaie Marie remains determined to fight for her son until the end.
