It was a long wait at a coffee shop here on Thursday for French consulate employee Pascal Mazurier, who is facing trial on the charge of raping his daughter, and his mother, Jacqueline Maillé.
Mr. Mazurier, following a High Court order, was to meet his three children, including the alleged victim of sexual abuse, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mr. Mazurier and his mother were at the coffee shop in a city mall — the designated meeting place — at about 10.45 a.m, but the children, who are in the custody of their mother, Suja Jones Muzurier, did not turn up for the meeting.
The mother-son duo, seated in a corner of the coffee shop, had a local person to work as a translator. While there was no communication from the other side, the suspense over whether or not the children will turn up continued and with it the long wait. The two waited till 4 p.m. and returned home.
A visibly upset Mr. Mazurier, though initially declined to speak to the media, told The Hindu it was “not the first time that his wife had kept his children away from him.”
His counsel P.B. Appaiah said Mr. Mazurier would file a contempt petition against Ms. Mazurier in the High Court for defying the court orders.
“This is not the first time that Ms. Jones had defied court orders to keep the children away from my client,” he said.
Timeline
June 2012:Pascal Mazurier, employee of French consulate, arrested on June 14 following a complaint by his wife alleging that he raped their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. He was released two days later.
September 2012:City police file charge sheet against Mr. Mazurier in the case, charging him with rape and unnatural sex.
2013: Mr. Mazurier moves a petition seeking custody and visitation rights for all three children before the family court. Court grants him visitation rights for the two sons, once a month.
2014: Trial begins in the rape and sodomy case.
December 18, 2015: High Court grants him permission to take all the three children for shopping on Christmas Eve.
December 24, 2015: The three children in the custody of their mother, Suja Jones Mazurier, fail to turn up for the meeting.
