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A Senegalese man and his “second” wife are on trial in Orléans for the murder of the “first” wife, a 31-year-old French woman, a case highlighting themes of polygamy, religious control, and domestic violence.
The victim, Clothilde Ba, died in August 2022 from blows to the face and head, dying a few hours later after the assault at Montargis urban hospital. She was pregnant, and her unborn baby girl also could not be saved. The two co-accused, Sileye Ba, 38, Clothilde’s ex-husband, and Dieynaba Kande, 34, his “second” wife, each face life imprisonment and are blaming each other for the fatal blows, according to French news outlet Le Parisien.
The tragic story began with a love affair. Clothilde, an atheist communications student, met Sileye, a cameraman, during an internship in Dakar in 2015. They secretly married, but when they returned to France, Clothilde’s father, Didier Ghiti, noticed a change in his daughter.
“When she returned from Senegal with the man who became her husband, we lived under the same roof, and I realized she was no longer the Clothilde I knew,” he said.
The Senegalese migrant, Sileye Ba, is a member of the Baye Fall movement, a branch of Islam that practices strict gender roles.
According to the young woman’s father, “Clothilde was searching for spirituality, and this man probably provided her with some answers. The influence began like that.”
As neither his daughter nor the new husband worked, Didier Ghiti supported them financially until he found the living situation “unbearable” and “ended up kicking them out.”
The couple, who by then had one child, found refuge in a shelter before securing an apartment in Montargis. In 2018, Sileye’s “second” wife, Dieynaba, joined them under the guise of being a cousin on an au pair contract. This created a “strange ménage à trois” that lasted for four years.
Neighbors observed Dieynaba monitoring Clothilde’s every move, who now appeared veiled and had cut off contact with her family and friends. Clothilde gave birth to a second and third child in 2019 and 2020.
The household’s financial stability relied on social assistance and the support of Clothilde’s mother, Sylvie Ghiti, who moved in with them after leaving her husband. Sylvie, who suffered from schizophrenia, converted to Islam and became increasingly devoted to Sileye, whom she called “baba” or “my guide.”
Her ex-husband, Didier, reported Sileye for abuse. Sylvie’s devotion soon turned to disillusionment as she “helplessly witnessed scenes of psychological and physical violence against her daughter.”
She documented this in messages on her phone. To maintain control, Sileye accused Clothilde of having affairs, using it as a justification to install surveillance cameras in the home.
The extreme coercive control led Sylvie to leave in late 2021. She lived in her car for months, cut off from her daughter and grandchildren. In May 2022, she committed suicide. A few days before her death, she wrote to her son-in-law, “Your God has destroyed me and you too.”
That same spring, social services received warnings about the living conditions and potential violence in the home. An assessment was launched, but Clothilde “kept smiling, found answers to everything, and avoided further appointments.”
She fabricated an assault to explain a black eye and never incriminated her husband or Dieynaba.
However, an autopsy revealed multiple injuries and bruises all over Clothilde’s body, including her genitals. As lawyer Pauline Rongier, representing several civil parties, stated, “This trial must also serve to retrace and understand the humiliations and mistreatment suffered by Clothilde.”
The court will now determine the responsibility of Sileye and Dieynaba for the fatal night of August 2-3, 2022.
