It is a well-known fact that children do not generally fancy a visit to a dentist. While some children might eventually give in to parental pressure, there are some others who are so scared of dentists that they would go extreme lengths to avoid them. Take for example the case of this boy from France.
This 12-year-old boy was so petrified of dentists that he staged his own kidnapping — a story which the police believed and spent a month looking for the “culprit.” According to the French newspaper Midi Libre , the this staged kidnapping was reported from the village of St. Gervais in France’s Alpine Valley.
It all started when the 12-year-old was spotted hiding by the police as they made a routine patrol through the village in the afternoon of May 21. According to The Local.fr , the boy was picked up by the police and, when inquired as to why he was hiding, he claimed he was abducted from the nearby town of Bagnols by a man and that he was hiding out of fear.
The boy provided the police officers a detailed description of the man. This kidnapper, according to the boy, was in his 30s, was around 1.7 meters tall, and had “European” features. He supposedly had a muscular build and there was a vertical scar on his right cheek. It didn’t end there. The boy also told the police that his kidnapper wore a black T-shirt and tight jeans. He revealed details about the car in which he said he was taken as well Now, that’s as detailed as it could get. So much so they even made a sketch of the suspect ready.
When asked about the exact way in which he was kidnapped, the boy said that he was on his way to the dentist when the suspect approached him to ask for directions. After talking for a few seconds, the boy claimed that he was forcefully pulled inside the car and they both sped off. He added that when the car stopped for some reason at Saint Gervais, he was able to escape.
The police, who treated this case with extreme priority, quickly started looking for possible suspects and new clues. Almost a month into the investigation with no credible leads, they decided to check CCTV images from the town of Bagnols — the place where the boy was kidnapped. They immediately realized that something was amiss here. The boy was questioned once again by the officials and, finally, he admitted that he had indeed lied about the entire incident. He also openly admitted that he conjured up the story simply because he was terrified to visit the dentist!
While it is perfectly understandable for a child to not like a dentist trip, was it an extreme reaction from this particular boy? It is unclear at this stage if the boy was reprimanded for his behavior by the police.
[Image via Wikimedia Commons ]