In a case seen as unprecedented in France, a nanny from Algeria is being tried for poisoning the Jewish family she worked for in a suburb of Paris, according to French media.

The 42-year-old woman, who was in the country illegally after being served an order to leave, is accused of poisoning the food and drinks of the Jewish family that employed her as a live-in nanny, according to Le Parisien.

The suspect, known as Leïla Y., is believed to have been motivated by antisemitic beliefs.

She was detained in February 2024 and charged with “administering a harmful substance resulting in incapacity exceeding eight days, committed on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.” Her arrest has not been revealed publicly until now. Her trial was set to begin Tuesday at the Nanterre Criminal Court.

Investigators allege that shortly after she was hired in January 2024, the suspect began mixing toxic household cleaning agents into wine, juice, pasta and cosmetics belonging to the couple who hired her to care for their three children, aged 2, 5 and 7 at the time, according to the report.

To secure the job, investigators say, she provided a falsified Belgian identity card after her visa ran out, another offense for which she is also being prosecuted.

According to the report, the mother of the family first alerted police on January 30, telling officers she had tasted what seemed to be cleaning fluid in her wine. She reported that her makeup remover had burned her eyes and that grape juice in the refrigerator appeared to foam and smelled of bleach. A pasta dish that........

© The Times of Israel