A 19-year-old girl had the worst experience of her life on the morning of Saturday 10 June. She was walking along Boodnah lane, Floréal when she was kidnapped by one of her father’s old friends before being forced into a car. Two other people were in the car. She was taken to a house where she was made to lie on a bed. One of her father’s friends removed her clothes to take a photo of her. While she was in the car with these three individuals, the vehicle was intercepted by a team of police officers from Rivière du Rempart. Two of the three individuals managed to escape. Only the driver of the car, Joseph Roger Steven Gunputh, a 34-year-old sheet metal worker from Trèfles, Rose-Hill, was arrested. On the afternoon of Monday 12 June, Noël Cephise Jean Yves Fleuriot, a 42-year-old homeless man, was arrested in Curepipe. The third suspect, who is believed to have masterminded the kidnapping, is being sought by police officers from the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in Curepipe.
At around 8.15am on Saturday 10 June, the young woman had just left her home to go to a supermarket where she works. At no time did she imagine that she was going to have a nightmarish day. She was in Boodnah lane, Floréal when a red Suzuki suddenly blocked her path. A man standing near a bamboo hedge grabbed her by the back. Another man in the car got out and forced her into the vehicle. She was powerless. She recognised the second man as one of her father’s old friends, aged 67 and living in Mon Desir, Vacoas. In the meantime, the police Information Room has been alerted by the public to this case of abduction. A radio message was sent to all units on patrol, as well as the entire police station in the country, regarding the report of this red car.
The car drove off in the direction of Quatre-Bornes. Meanwhile, the man beside her placed a black jacket over her head. He then tied her hands and feet with nylon thread. The man ordered her not to resist or he would use a taser on her.
Jean Yves Fleuriot got out of the vehicle in the Saint Jean area. The vehicle headed for the village of Rivière du Rempart. She was taken to a house in Pointe des Lascars. Her father’s friend then took the jacket off her head, and it was then that she realised she was in a bedroom. Her father’s friend and driver, Steven Gunputh, tied her hands and feet to a bed on which she was made to lie down.
She was alone in the room with the friend.
