Multiple sources confirmed Tuesday that the remains of five infants were found at a home in southern France. The discovery came after a 32-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby on Monday evening. According to a source familiar with the investigation, police recovered the bodies from cardboard boxes in Orange, Vaucluse.
Discovery of Remains
The birth was described as her third child following a third pregnancy denial, a source told Le Parisien. The macabre chain of events began when the mother complained of severe abdominal pain after the birth. An argument broke out between the couple over the contents of some cardboard boxes kept at the residence, which they share with their two older children, aged eight and twelve.
Her husband was not at home when she went to hospital. After she left, he searched the boxes they had been arguing over and reportedly found a decomposing body inside a plastic bag. He took the remains to the hospital, which reported the matter to the authorities under Article 40.
Investigation Underway
Officers then searched the couple’s home and discovered further foetuses in plastic bags inside cardboard boxes—bringing the total count to five dead babies. An investigating source said: "The woman was complaining about abdominal pain when they argued, a day after she gave birth on Sunday. The husband stayed behind when she was taken to hospital, and looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies. All the foetuses were decomposing, and had been around for quite a while."
The woman remains in hospital and has not been taken into custody, and there have been no arrests made in connection with the case so far. The enquiry is currently being handled by the Carpentras prosecutor’s office, which has not yet responded to requests for comment.
