An “extramarital” relationship between a 34-year-old woman and a Bangladeshi worker is believed to have been behind the fatal attack on the latter in the early hours of Sunday morning, May 28, in Grand-Baie. The alleged assailant was none other than the thirty-something woman’s boyfriend. Zorina Espiege, a notorious 29-year-old recidivist, was arrested. His girlfriend Marie Emmanuelle Franciska Christophe, a 34-year-old resident of Sainte-Croix, was also arrested. Both are facing provisional charges of murder. They were brought before the Pamplemousses court on Monday morning, May 29, on a provisional charge of murder. They were subsequently taken back into custody.
It was in the early hours of Sunday morning May 28, at 00:45, that the Grand-Baie police station received a request concerning the body of a man lying in the middle of Racket Road, Grand-Baie, not far from the local Bazaar. The victim, a man whose identity was not known, was wearing a shirt and shorts. She was lying on her back, bleeding profusely from the head. His right hand was in his right pocket. The man had no pulse.
His body was taken to the morgue of the Dr. A.G. Jeetoo Hospital, Port-Louis, for an autopsy. The autopsy, carried out by Dr Maxwell Monvoisn, Principal Police Medical Officer, attributed his death to craniocerebral lesions.
On the same day, a team from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Grand-Baie, led by Inspector Dooshan Thakoor, raided the scene on the basis of information obtained in the field. Several people were questioned in connection with this macabre discovery. On the basis of specific information, the CID men went to a location in Grand-Baie where suspect Zarino Espiège was found. He was questioned about the case, and eventually confessed his guilt. He had to confide to these investigators, “missie mo copine ti al avek enn missie ki mo pa konn so nom ek zot ti ale gagn relasyon kont peyman, kan mo finn ale zwen mo 35 monn finn koumans lev avek li ek linn vir ledo avek mwa linn ale. Ler la monn trouv sa missie la vinn par deryer mwa ek linn dir mwa bann mo en indien ki mo pann konpran. Ek mwa dan sa ler la mo ti enkoler ek mo finn tapp li enn kalot avek mo lamin drwat lor so lazou gos ek li finn tomb lor simin. Mo finn panike monn ale depi laba”.
The suspect was arrested and taken to the CID office. His girlfriend, Franciska Christophe, was also arrested. At the CID offices in Grand-Baie, they were questioned in connection with the fatal attack on the Bangladeshi. Zarino Espiège had to confess to assaulting 39-year-old Bangladeshi Mia Babul. This followed a violent argument between the suspect and his girlfriend. When the Bangladeshi intervened between them, Zarino Espiège slapped him across the cheek. The thirty-something confirmed that she had gone to the Bangladeshi man’s home to have sex. It was while she was going to a store with this man that her boyfriend started arguing with her.
The two suspects were first brought before the Bail and Remand Court at New Court House, Port-Louis, on Saturday May 27. In the afternoon of Monday May 29, they were examined by Dr Monvoisin at the Medical Inspection Room at the Casernes Centrales.
