On his way to college, 20-year-old Martin overpowered a man who was trying to abduct a 3-year-old girl as her mother watched. A civic gesture, which he considers natural.
A few minutes late can sometimes resolutely change the course of a life… The proof on this Thursday March 24 when, at 8:35 a.m., Martin Lesieur, 20, hurries through the streets of Saint-Quentin (Aisne) . He follows an engineering course at Inseet (the Higher Institute of Science and Technology) and his day begins soon. Approaching the university, the student notices a strange man standing very close to a woman strapping her young daughter to the car seat of her car.
“He was almost stuck behind her, at the right rear door, and he was wearing a big parka with a hood over his head, while the weather was nice and mild. He also had his face camouflaged by a blue surgical mask. ” Martin stops and observes from afar. “I waited, to find out if it was a quarrel between a couple or friends. In this case, I would not have intervened.” But now the man tries to catch the 3-year-old girl, installed in the car. His mother intervenes, without success.
“I don’t know him, I don’t know what he wants!”
“Help, help me! I don’t know him, I don’t know what he wants!” she screams. The student of 1.82 m, with a solid stature, immediately approaches the disturber. “I pulled his coat so he turned around and looked at me, saying, ‘What’s going on? Leave that lady alone!’ But he didn’t even move. He was like obsessed with one goal: to kidnap this child.”
The man rushes back into the sedan. Martin then intervenes by using the self-defense movements he practices in judo. In a few quick and precise gestures, he neutralizes the aggressor, who finds himself pinned to the ground, his hands held behind his back by Martin’s knee. He then discovers her gaze, visibly worrying. “I hadn’t seen his face. He had very dark eyes. I thought he was on drugs. I didn’t want the little girl to see it and remember that image, so I pulled the hood down on his head”, explains the Saint-Quentinois.
“He was obsessed with one goal: to kidnap this child”
Martin maintains the position for ten minutes, until the police arrive. In addition, a lifeguard swimmer, soon to be a volunteer firefighter, he dreams, in parallel with his engineering degree, of becoming a fighter pilot and preparing for the officer competition in the Air Force. The police congratulate him for his composure and his gesture, which probably made it possible to avoid a tragedy. According to the testimonies collected on the spot, the same man would have indeed sexually assaulted a jogger, a little earlier.
“I went, I helped and I left. Frankly, it was a simple act of citizenship”, summarizes Martin in all humility. Even if he received messages of congratulations from all over France and a letter from the mayor of Saint-Quentin, he keeps a cool head. And hopes that the way he intervened encourages everyone to react in the event of an attack. “Rather than looking away or filming with your phones, use them to call for help if you can’t help yourself.” No doubt his call will be heard.