Lionel Gougelot, edited by Loane Nader / Photo credit: FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP 10:59 am, June 09, 2023

Little Malek kidnapped by her father on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, June 7, was found safe and sound this Thursday in Italy. The little girl lived with her father's new girlfriend, Sonia, whom he is suspected of killing before fleeing. Sonia's mother, Françoise, testifies at the microphone of Europe 1.

She was kidnapped by her father Djamel on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, June 7 in Dunkirk. Little Malek, aged eight, was found a few hours after the end of the kidnapping alert triggered on Thursday, in Genoa, Italy. His captor was most likely trying to reach Tunisia, his country of origin. The latter is suspected of having killed his companion Sonia, before abducting his daughter and fleeing. Europe 1 met the victim's mother, who was aware of the danger her daughter was running.

And if Malek is not her little girl, Françoise, Sonia's mother, considers her almost as such. When she learned on Thursday of Djamel's arrest in Italy, she expressed her relief, despite the pain of losing her daughter. "Yes, because they're going to put her out of harm's way of this individual who was psychologically dangerous on this child. Can you imagine if she saw the violence, what happened that night? Maybe he was violent in front of this little kid who said 'Mommy', my daughter... I wish him to go to hell," she finally admits.

>> READ ALSO - Kidnapping in Dunkirk: little Malek found with her father in Italy

"I knew he was an enlightened one"

Sonia's partner was an asylum seeker and had been violent towards his partner before. Françoise had been worried about it for a long time and several police interventions at the couple's home had not changed anything. "From the beginning I knew this individual, I knew he was an enlightened and dangerous one. She was under the influence and she didn't know how to disentangle herself from him. And I was telling my friends, 'Tragedy is going to happen one day.'"

A few hours before Sonia's death and Djamel's escape, Françoise had alerted the police, who had gone to Sonia's house. "If Djamel had been taken on board that night," sighs the retiree, "my daughter might still be alive."