Benin: a young man and his accomplice jailed for the kidnapping of his ex-fiancée.

Among the accused is the ex-fiancé of a 22-year-old woman, a zemidjan driver, along with one of his associates. They are accused of having held the victim against her will at the end of May 2026 in Zakpota, with the intention of forcing her to resume a romantic relationship that she had ended. During the hearing, the main accused admitted to the facts, while his co-defendant claimed innocence.

Before the court, the victim explained that she had shared her life with the main accused for four to five years, a relationship during which his family had officially asked for her hand in marriage.

Believing that this union had no future, the young woman had decided to end it. After failing her high school diploma, she expressed a desire to learn a trade, but met with her parents’ refusal, as they believed her fiancé’s approval was essential.

Having finally obtained parental permission to move to Cotonou to work as a housekeeper, she rebuilt her life and started a new romance. At the time of the events, the young woman was two months pregnant with her new partner’s child.

The Trap and the Scheme of the Victim to Escape

On the day of the incident, as she was returning from the village where she had just introduced her new partner to her family, the victim was intercepted on the road by several individuals, among whom she formally identified her ex-fiancé and a friend. After dismissing her younger brother who was accompanying her, the two men forcibly took her to her ex-fiancé’s home.

Held from Sunday to Monday, the victim claimed she did not suffer any physical violence. However, her captors exerted significant psychological pressure to convince her to change her mind, even going so far as to offer to raise the unborn child as the child of her ex-fiancé.

Faced with her refusal and to escape this trap, the young woman pretended to suffer from severe abdominal pains in order to be taken to a healthcare center. Once at the hospital, she alerted the medical staff who immediately notified the authorities, leading to the apprehension of the two suspects.

At the stand, the ex-fiancé reiterated his regrets and stated that his only motivation was to resume living together, even rejecting the offer from the victim’s family to reimburse him for the expenses incurred during their engagement. For her part, the young woman stated that she was not seeking any financial compensation.

During the proceedings, the CRIET firmly reminded that forced marriage and any form of union without free consent are severely punished by Beninese law. The judges emphasized that the young woman’s refusal must be scrupulously respected. The court kept both men in custody and postponed the case to August 27, 2026, for the public prosecutor’s requisitions.