A deeply disturbing case from France has shocked the public after a mother and her partner allegedly tricked their two young sons into a fake game and abandoned them deep in a Portuguese forest.

The two boys, aged 5 and 4, were found wandering alone on a rural road between the towns of Alcácer do Sal and Comporta in Portugal on the evening of May 19. They told a local couple who discovered them that their mother and stepfather had blindfolded them as part of a “game” and then left them behind with only a change of clothes, some fruit, and two bottles of water.

The mother, Marine R., 41, a French sexologist, and her 55-year-old partner Marc B. (also referred to as Ballabriga) were arrested on May 21. They were located about 200 km away in Fatima, where they were calmly relaxing at a café terrace, enjoying food and drinks in the sun just hours after abandoning the children.

Security camera footage released by local media shows the heartbreaking scene of the two boys innocently playing inside the family car at a gas station in Miranda do Douro near the Spanish border on May 11. The children appear joyful and unaware of what was about to happen, climbing on the seats while their parents refueled the vehicle.

The family had driven from France to Portugal after the mother reportedly went missing with the boys two weeks earlier. Portuguese authorities launched a search after the children were found, leading to the couple’s arrest.

The case has sparked widespread outrage in France and Portugal. Both suspects have been detained on charges of child abandonment.