B. I, the plaintiff's son;
NACANABO Wendpouiré, the neighbour of the accused was also heard as
a witness; he stated that on the day of the events, the accused had met him at
home to inform him that the child had died as a result of an illness called
"luii-la" in the Mooré language; he advised him to inform the village chief;
that while on their way to the chief's house, the accused revealed to him that
the child had died as a result of an argument he had had with his mother who,
unbalanced by a slap he had given her, had thrown the child against the wall
in her fall;
NACANABO Zalissa, another concubine of the accused, was also heard as
a witness and stated that she had not been an eyewitness to the scene because
she was in bed in her house at the time of the incident;
Upon completion of the investigation, the investigating officers referred
N. N N aka H to the State Counsel of Faso at the High Court of
Ouahigouya, who, in an introductory indictment dated March 28, 2017,
requested the investigating judge of the said court to open an
investigation against him for murder in accordance with the provisions of
Articles 318 paragraphs 1 and 347 of the Penal Code;
Charged in accordance with the terms of the indictment, N. N aka H
remained consistent in his statements during his interrogation at his first
appearance before the investigating magistrate; he reiterated that during an
argument, he had given a slap and a punch to his concubine
GANAME Ammi who, while falling, kicked the victim against the wall; The
latter maintained her statements made during the preliminary investigation,
while specifying that her co-wife NACANABO Zalissa was present when her
partner took the child out of her hands and threw it against the wall;
NACANABO Zalissa, who was in her turn heard, stated that she had in no
way witnessed the events leading up to the death of the child; that she was in
her house when her partner attacked her co-wife; that it was the latter's shouts
that led her out of the house; that she could not therefore state which of her
partner or co-wife was the cause of the infant's death;
Upon completion of the investigation, the investigating judge
communicated the file to the Legal Department, who requested that the
case be dismissed in favour of the accused;
Following the closing order dated May 11, 2018, the investigating judge
reclassified the murder charges against the accused as manslaughter and
referred him back to the criminal court to answer; Entered on the cause list
of October 17, 2018, the case was repeatedly referred back before being
retained and debated at the hearing of March 6, 2019;
Before the court, the accused essentially maintained his statements made
during the preliminary investigation and before the investigating
magistrate; He stated that after receiving the slap, his concubine
GANAME Ammi, had fallen to the ground and was violently agitating;
that it was in this agitation that she kicked the child against the wall,
resulting in his death;
Heard as a witness, NACANABO Zalissa maintained that he had not been
an eyewitness to the scene;
NACANABO Wendpouïré, however, reiterated that the accused had
initially told him that the child had died as a result of an illness and that he
had only revealed the circumstances of the child's death on their way to the
chief's house to report the news;
After the submissions of the Legal Department, which requested that the
accused be kept in connection with the prejudice and be sentenced to 12