Kaius
July 28th, 2010, 05:01 PM
A couple have been arrested after the bodies of eight new-born babies were found in northern France.
The corpses were discovered in individual plastic bags hidden around two houses in the tiny village of Villers-au-Tertre, about 35 miles from Lille.
Police were alerted after a family moved into their new home and found infant bones in the garden.
Officers traced the previous occupants, who were living less than a mile away in the hamlet.
Sniffer dogs found the bodies of more new-born babies there.
"Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children," said public prosecutor Eric Vaillant.
Newspaper reports in France said the unnamed couple are both in their 40s.
Le Figaro said two of the bodies had been hidden in the first house for more than 20 years.
De?couverte des cadavres de huit bébés a? Villers-au-Tertre
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Local paper L'Observateur Douaisis said: "The couple will appear before a magistrate on Thursday morning charged with harbouring dead bodies."
It said the charges could be strengthened to murder as the forensic investigation continues.
France has seen a string of cases in recent years of mothers killing their new-born babies and hiding the corpses.
In March, a 38-year-old mother was jailed for 15 years for killing six of her newborn babies and hiding their bodies in bin liners in the cellar of her home in Valognes, near Cherbourg.
Céline Lesage was found guilty of suffocating four babies and strangling two others after giving birth to them in secret between 2000 and 2007.
Another French woman, Veronique Courjault, was convicted last year of murdering three of her new-born children.
Her husband discovered two of the corpses in a freezer while the two were living in South Korea.
During the trial, psychiatrists said she suffered from a condition known as "pregnancy denial".
Source (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100728/twl-bodies-of-eight-new-born-babies-foun-3fd0ae9.html)
The corpses were discovered in individual plastic bags hidden around two houses in the tiny village of Villers-au-Tertre, about 35 miles from Lille.
Police were alerted after a family moved into their new home and found infant bones in the garden.
Officers traced the previous occupants, who were living less than a mile away in the hamlet.
Sniffer dogs found the bodies of more new-born babies there.
"Two people are being held in custody. They are the mother and father of the children," said public prosecutor Eric Vaillant.
Newspaper reports in France said the unnamed couple are both in their 40s.
Le Figaro said two of the bodies had been hidden in the first house for more than 20 years.
De?couverte des cadavres de huit bébés a? Villers-au-Tertre
Uploaded by lobsdudouaisis. - News videos from around the world.
Local paper L'Observateur Douaisis said: "The couple will appear before a magistrate on Thursday morning charged with harbouring dead bodies."
It said the charges could be strengthened to murder as the forensic investigation continues.
France has seen a string of cases in recent years of mothers killing their new-born babies and hiding the corpses.
In March, a 38-year-old mother was jailed for 15 years for killing six of her newborn babies and hiding their bodies in bin liners in the cellar of her home in Valognes, near Cherbourg.
Céline Lesage was found guilty of suffocating four babies and strangling two others after giving birth to them in secret between 2000 and 2007.
Another French woman, Veronique Courjault, was convicted last year of murdering three of her new-born children.
Her husband discovered two of the corpses in a freezer while the two were living in South Korea.
During the trial, psychiatrists said she suffered from a condition known as "pregnancy denial".
Source (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100728/twl-bodies-of-eight-new-born-babies-foun-3fd0ae9.html)