Forensic Inquiry Reveals That Death of Child “Houssem” Occurred By Drowning

The sudden disappearance of the little Houssem had plunged the whole province of Tipaza into a state of disquiet and consternation, and it was thought that the population had ended with the abduction of children.

But in the early afternoon of Wednesday, Houssem who was playing near the family home located in the “Nine Martyrs” district in Bou-Ismail town had abruptly disappeared.

Barely 8 years old, the hapless child was found dead on Saturday in the forest of Sidi Slimane, not far from his house, the body lying in a pond near the highway and a dam near Khemisti locality. 

Carried to the mortuary of the Hospital de Douera, the preliminary results of the autopsy conducted on his corpse showed that he had died after drowning.

But, the judicial investigation is still continuing to fully shed light into this woeful case, according to security sources. 

The corpse of little Houssem showed no evidence of physical violence, according to the preliminary findings of the forensic doctor, who stated that the date of death was three days old. 

At the same time, the investigation is continuing with the arrest of several suspected individuals including Houssem’s half-brother and two of his friends, who are likely to have been involved in a financial dispute in relation to the case, while the National Gendarmerie teams are continuing the search in order to retrieve the child’s clothes, shirt and shoes, which were not found on the scene of the tragedy.

A vehicle was also seized on Friday in a local garage near the family home thanks to the cyno-technical brigade that had recourse to the clothes of the child, the same sources added. 

The services of the National Gendarmerie mobilized all their human and material resources as part of the ongoing judicial inquiry carried out by the relevant Investigation Brigade. 

As a reminder, a national plan called “Alert-Abduction” of children had been triggered immediately after the disappearance of the little Houssem.