Police officers face disciplinary hearing over domestic violence case handling

Two high-ranking police officers, an inspector and a sergent will face a disciplinary hearing and possibly face other sanctions after an internal police report revealed they had made errors of judgement in dealing with a domestic violence case which ended in a woman's death.

According to France Inter public news radio, which had access to the national police inspection (IGPN) report, four police officers of different levels of responsibility based in Mérignac (Gironde) southwest France, committed mistakes over a period of months with regards to the Chahinez Daoud case.

They are to receive a letter from the national police director in the coming days and will be questioned by an internal disciplinary council.

On 15 th of March, 31 year-old mother of three, Chahinez Daoud filed a legal complaint at the police station in Mérignac against her husband Mounir Boutaa for having locked her in a car and punching her.

44-year-old Boutaa had already been sentenced to jail for domestic violence and was released in December 2020, without an electronic bracelet.

In June, an initial inspection report underlined a series of failures in the police chain of command and judicial system in following up on this case.

For example, the officer in charge of taking down the complaint reportedly did not file the documentation correctly, and it arrived late in the judicial system.

It was also revealed that both the services in charge of surveillance of Boutaa after his release from prison and the police did not communicate adequately in order to locate the man before he returned to attack his wife.

On 4th May, the Boutaa ambushed his wife in front of her home in broad daylight, firstly firing at her before setting her on fire.

According to the police report, one of the key errors was that the family protection unit, experienced in these types of cases, was not contacted early enough.