Every year, several Algerians, mainly young men, try to leave their country, without passports or visas, on boats, risking their lives in order to escape a life they find too difficult. These “Harragas” pay smugglers, and have to spend large sums that they manage to save or borrow. For some, lacking the means or the resources, they turn to crime in order to pay the costs of the “harga”.
In this case, a group of friends took advantage of the weakness of a 70-year-old woman by robbing and killing her. It was in Sidi Naamane, a town in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou that the gendarmerie services found the body of a lifeless septuagenarian.
The authorities shed light on this case
According to the Arabic-language media Echorouk, the case of this murder dates back to March 19, 2021, when the police received a call from the son of the victim. He had found the body of his late mother in the family home, and notified the police. Following this call, the authorities began their investigations, but nothing conclusive for two long years.
It was therefore only two years later that the police succeeded in determining the actors of this appalling crime: 4 friends, including a couple.
The motive for the crime revealed by the authorities
Thanks to local sources who have helped. Local sources reported that the killers wanted to get money to leave the national territory illegally. One of those concerned has already set sail, and the other defendants are taking the opportunity to incriminate him.
According to the press release from the authorities, a mobile phone allowed them to trace the trail to the four individuals. After denying the facts, one of the suspects was confronted with the evidence and had to confess to the crime, relating the facts surrounding this murder.
They stormed the 70-year-old woman’s home to rob her, but alerted by the noise she woke up. The principal concerned would therefore have strangled him in order to recover the loot.
After these confessions, the authors were brought before the public prosecutor at the Tizi-Ouzou court. He ordered their placement in pre-trial detention for premeditated murder, theft with several people.
