Scottish Daily Mail

Did mum know her killers on paradise island?

- By Joe Stenson

SHOCKED residents on the paradise island where a Scots mum was choked to death fear she may have known her killers.

Janice Farman was discovered by her young son who raised the alarm after the attack in Mauritius.

An island-wide manhunt began after the 47-year-old’s body was found, as police initially suspected that the tragedy was a robbery which had gone wrong.

Detectives have been trying to track down three men who fled in her car, taking jewellery, cash, and other valuables from her home on the west-coast town of Albion.

However, it has now been reported that evidence from Mrs Farman’s ten-year-old son Gavin has cast doubt on the break-in theory.

It is feared he witnessed the horror as his mother was beaten and murdered.

According to Mauritius newspaper L’Express, the boy, who was adopted as a baby, said three men had regularly visited his mother’s house for drinking parties.

Local media has also reported that detectives found no signs of forced entry at the property which Mrs Farman, from Clydebank, Dunbartons­hire, had only recently started renting. The lack of burglary evidence has fuelled speculatio­n that she may have known whoever is responsibl­e for her death and that she might have let them into her home.

The developmen­ts came as President of Mauritius Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim spoke out against the murder, which has left residents of the holiday island stunned.

On Saturday she told the Sunday Herald: ‘As a mother, my heart goes out to her family and ten-year-old son as nothing will ever replace the kind attention and love that only a mother brings.

‘The police have opened an inquiry and we hope that the culprits will soon be arrested and brought to justice.

‘Nothing can ever justify such callous brutality that takes away the lives of innocent people. May she rest in peace.’

Police have recovered Mrs Farman’s Nissan Tiida from a country road about ten miles from the scene of the murder. Forensic officers are examining the vehicle and sniffer dogs have been deployed in the search for her killers.

On Friday a post-mortem examinatio­n confirmed that she had died died as a result of ‘asphyxia due to compressio­n of the neck’.

Mrs Farman moved to the Indian Ocean country in 2004, taking a job as the managing director of a data company.

It is understood that she alone adopted Gavin, who is believed to have autism, raising questions over who will get custody following her death.

The boy is in the care of the Mauritian government’s Child Developmen­t Unit (CDU) but Mrs Farman’s husband Jean Baptiste Moutou – from whom she is separated – has declared that he intends to look after him. It has also been reported that Mrs Farman’s parents in the UK are keen to take him in and that his biological mother has made an attempt to see him but has so far been denied access.

The Foreign Office said it would not comment on the particular­s of a case which involves a minor.

However, a spokesman indicated that a carer’s eligibilit­y to bring the child to Britain would hinge on the issue of nationalit­y.

Speaking in the wake of his wife’s murder Mr Moutou revealed that she had been planning to return to her native Scotland in the days before she was killed.

He said: ‘I talked to her on the phone on Wednesday.

‘She said everything was fine but she wanted to leave Mauritius. She wanted to return to Scotland.

‘She asked for my help in initiating the proceeding­s.

‘Heart goes out to her family’ ‘Wanted to leave Mauritius’

 ??  ?? Manhunt: Janice Farman was asphyxiate­d at her home, left, on island of Mauritius
Manhunt: Janice Farman was asphyxiate­d at her home, left, on island of Mauritius

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