Young girl possibly strangled before fall from flat

Sharleyne (8), a little girl that three years ago died falling from the 10th floor of a building in Hoogeveen, could have been strangled and then pushed down by her mother, the lawyer for the girl's father said to AD. This happened sometime overnight between night June 7 and 8 in 2015 in the flat where the girl lived with her mother in Hoogeveen.

In previous trials it had not been possible to clarify whether the blonde girl's tragic fall had been an accident or a crime.

But according to Sebás Diekstra, the attorney of the girl's father, forensic investigators have now found traces of strangling on the victim's body. On top of that it appears that the Public Prosecutor has received new testimonies confirming that the girl was pushed.

In the beginning of the case authorities arrested Sharleyne's mother, Héléne J., but released her soon after for lack of evidence, and regarded the event as an accident. The girl's father, Victor Remouchamps, then began a so-called Article 12 procedure in order to force a continued court investigation into the matter.

During the investigation no traces of the girl were found on the railings of the building where she fell from. This evidence combined with the fact that the girl was too small to jump over them, the authorities came to the conclusion that suicide or an accident were not possible. For these reasons last year they decided to arrest Sharleyne's mother with the accusation of manslaughter.

The first court date for the new procedure was scheduled for next week. Héléne J. has never agreed to tell what actually happened that night.