The murder of Meriem Boundaoui, an Algerian teenager in Montreal (Canada), in February 2021, had aroused indignation and incomprehension both in this North American country and in Algeria.
Two years after this crime, the publication of Canadian justice documents allows us to understand what really happened. What caused the death at the age of 15 of Meriem Boundaoui, originally from Béjaïa, is simply incredible and disconcertingly commonplace.
The Algerian teenager made the mistake of finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Where two merchants have planned to settle a dispute over futility: parking.
According to the Journal de Montreal, the so-called Aymane Bouadi and Salim Touaibi had a long-standing dispute over the parking of customers in front of their stores.
The first managed a store in the Castel market, the second ran a hairdressing salon. The two businesses were adjoining, rue Jean-Talon in the Canadian metropolis.
It all started when the owner of the Castel market complained to his neighbor about the parking of his customers in his private area. A banal conflict that could have been settled by a simple discussion.
Canada: 15-year-old Algerian killed in parking lot
But as the days went by, the situation only got worse with the stubbornness of the two traders. Several altercations will take place between the two parties, each having appealed to their respective families and friends.
Attempts to settle the dispute peacefully have taken place, but they have all failed. The last one took place the day before the murder. But she degenerated.
One of the hair salon owner’s representatives was assaulted as soon as he showed up on the scene. Then “misdeeds” were committed in the Castel store, according to the Journal de Montréal.
Touaibi was one of the attackers. On the same night, he would have threatened his vis-à-vis by telephone, promising to put them “a bullet in the head”, or even to “burn their store”.
The next day, the two clans again tried to settle things, but a tragedy occurs. Because the threats by telephone had not ceased, as well as the “invitations to fight”.
Canadian justice has not released all the details of the crime of this 15-year-old Algerian, but it appears from the documents released that Touaibi warned that he would soon arrive on the scene.
The new encounter between the two clans led to tragedy. Shots were fired at a vehicle in which the young Meriem Boundaoui had taken a seat on the passenger side. She is hit by a bullet in the head.
The revelations made do not specify what link the young Algerian had with one or other of the protagonists, nor the reasons which led one of them to shoot towards the vehicle.
The investigation by the local police resulted 16 months later in the arrest of Bouadi and Touaibi, both charged with murder. No date has yet been set for the trial, according to the Montreal newspaper.
