“Mélina, Laure, Élodie, Béatrice”. On Thursday, November 20 alone, four women became victims of femicide, killed by their current or former partners, in France, Le Parisien has learned. The events occurred in Doubs, Gironde, Gard and Ardennes.
Four men, partners or former partners of these women, who were suspected of being the perpetrators of the women’s murders, were arrested and detained by the police.
A mother of two teenagers in Gironde
A woman, aged 45, was murdered by her partner at the family home in Saint-Ciers-d’Abzac, near Libourne (Gironde). The man, aged 60, called the gendarmerie in the afternoon to report himself, explaining that he had just killed his partner, said Loïs Raschel, Libourne public prosecutor, raising the possibility of “female murder”.
Based on initial investigations, the mother of two teenagers died from “stab wounds” after an argument. According to our colleagues from the South-West, the sixty-year-old man has been convicted of domestic violence against his ex-partner.
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After reporting himself to police, “the man was arrested at the scene without offering any resistance,” the judge added. An investigation was opened into murder by a spouse or partner, entrusted to the Libourne research brigade.
A woman was killed in Gard
In Gard, in Beaucaire, a man came to the police station in the afternoon, claiming to have found his wife unconscious in their home, according to our colleagues from BFMTV. Inside the apartment, police found the victim dead lying on his bed. Known for domestic violence, the man was detained by police as part of the investigation into this death, which was described as suspicious, according to Objectif Gard.
A fifty year old man was found dead in his home in the Ardennes
In Sedan, in the Ardennes, a woman in her fifties was found dead in her home. Her partner was arrested and taken into police custody, according to the Charleville-Mézières prosecutor’s office, which opened an investigation “into the murder committed by her partner.”
According to the prosecutor, his partner is suspected of being behind the wheel and deliberately causing an accident on the highway, according to him, in an attempt to end his life. Lightly injured in the crash, he later explained that he had previously killed his partner at their home in Sedan. Arriving at the couple’s house, police found the partner’s body in the basement of the house, as well as many traces of blood in the living room.
“The first medico-legal and material findings indicate the genesis of this death as a criminal act,” according to the prosecutor, who entrusted the investigation to the Sedan police. Also in his fifties, the suspect was “unknown to police and the justice system,” as was his partner, according to prosecutors.
A man who was the subject of several complaints killed his former partner in Doubs
In the morning, a 32-year-old woman was killed by gunfire in Besançon (Doubs), said Cédric Logelin, Besançon public prosecutor, during a press conference, indicating that her 34-year-old ex-partner had been detained by the police for “murder”.
According to our colleagues from Eastern Republicans, the thirty-year-old man had just left his home and was preparing to get into his vehicle to go to work when he was fatally shot by rifle fire from a fleeing man. “Since then, suspicion has focused on the victim’s former companion, aged 34. He was at his house located in Ornans, where he was hiding alone, but still armed,” explained Cédric Logelin during a press conference. The man finally gave up in the afternoon.
He was placed in police custody as part of an investigation into “murder”. According to local newspapers, the victim had filed complaints twice against her ex-partner in recent months, last February for “intrusion of privacy” and last October for damage to his vehicle. Since October 24, it has been equipped with a “Monsherif” button, which allows women victims of violence to raise an alarm in case of danger by pressing a button.
The man was convicted several times between 2019 and 2024 for violence, vandalism, traffic violations and moral harassment against other women. He was recently admitted to a mental hospital.
“Mélina, Laure, Élodie, Béatrice died tonight”
The Minister of Equality between Women and Men & the Fight Against Discrimination, Aurore Bergé, reacted in a message posted on
“The murder of women is not news. This is not a family matter. This is a social fact. A political fact. These women, their faces, their lives, their broken fates, the children they left behind must be the breaking news tonight,” he continued, promising that the government would go “further” in the fight against violence against women. “But it’s time for everyone to realize what femicide is. Don’t let anyone get used to it. Let everyone play their role to the maximum. The whole community,” concluded the Minister of Finance.
Between 2023 and 2024, the number of marital femicides increased by 11% in France with 107 women killed by their partners or former partners, i.e. one death recorded every three days. In 2024, 403 attempted murders of the couple were recorded.
If you are a victim of violence or a witness to violence, you can contact Violences Femmes Info by telephone at 3919, a free and anonymous number, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
