A husband in France horrifically discovered the bodies of five “decomposing” babies hidden inside cardboard boxes at his house following an argument with his wife — who had just given birth at home the day prior.
The woman, 32, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was allegedly arguing with her husband over the contents in the boxes at their home in the historic town of Orange on Monday, The US Sun reported.
She had just given birth at home to a healthy baby boy a day prior and started complaining about abdominal pain during the argument. She was then taken to hospital when her husband made the gruesome discovery.
“The husband stayed behind when she was taken to hospital, and looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies,” an investigating source said, according to the Sun.
“All the [fetuses] were decomposing, and had been around for quite a while,” the source added.
The boxes containing the remains, which were located on the second floor of the home, were all stuffed in a large plastic bag.
The husband had been upset that he only recently learned about his wife’s pregnancy after she had denied being pregnant three times, according to local outlet Le Parisien.
The husband took the bag to the hospital, which reported the horrifying incident to police, a source close to the investigation told Le Parisien.
A forensic pathologist confirmed that the remains were of five infants — with further autopsies expected to be carried out.
The husband “stated he knew nothing about his partner’s potential pregnancies,” according to the Carpentras prosecutor’s office, which is probing the incident. The husband was subsequently released.
The wife remains hospitalized and has not been taken into custody or questioned by investigators, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Since the horrifying discovery, child welfare services are monitoring the situation considering the couple share two other children, an 8 and 12-year-old.
A provisional placement order has also been issued for the newborn pending referral of the case to a juvenile judge.
The couple, who reportedly had no history of problems, were described as “charming people” to French outlet AFP by neighbor Florent Jean, who said they were both in their 30s and had moved into their home two years earlier.
The wife was a stay-at-home mother, while the husband worked, according to the neighbor, who said the couple were “normal people, really.”
