Woman alleged to have tortured and killed 12-year-old to stand trial in France | France

In the case that shocked France and caused political waves, the woman who allegedly abused and tortured a 12-year-old girl and left her to drown will be tried for murder on Friday.

Lola Daviet’s body was found stuffed in a plastic crate dumped on the street near her home.

Dahbia Benkired, 27, is accused of murdering a young child, aggravated rape, torture and an act of barbarism in a case that caused widespread fear in France three years ago.

After it was revealed that Algerian-born Benkired did not have the right to stay in France and was ordered to leave the country two months ago, the far right also tried to gain political benefit from the murder.

Daviet had walked a few hundred meters from the school and reached his home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, where his parents were the building’s doormen, just after 3pm on Friday, October 14, 2022.

The building’s security cameras record Benkired, who was homeless and unemployed but was staying at his sister’s apartment in the building, meeting Lola in front of the building just after 3 p.m.

Daviet’s family was alarmed when their daughter did not come home. An hour and a half later, Benkired was filmed in the entrance corridor of the building surrounded by suitcases, including a large trunk.

Benkired, who was said to have given confusing explanations about the events, was examined by many psychiatrists and psychologists, but it was decided that he could appear in court. He has been held in Fresnes prison, south of Paris, for the last three years.

Shortly after the murder, Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National sought to politically capitalize on the alleged killer’s irregular immigration status. Éric Pauget of the right-wing Les Républicains told parliament that Lola was killed because of France’s weakness on immigration.

But ministers in the centrist government have called on MPs to “show some decency”.

Then-justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti accused them of playing “petty politics” and using “the coffin of a 12-year-old girl” to advance their political narrative.

In France, any act of sexual penetration committed against another person through violence, coercion, threat or surprise is rape. Benkired faces life in prison if convicted.

The hearing will continue until next Friday, when the verdict is expected.