A female defendant accused with mistreating and brutalizing a 12-year-old girl before leaving her to suffocate will go on trial for homicide this Friday in a legal matter that stunned the nation and sparked public controversy.
Finding the Deceased Girl
Lola Daviet’s remains was found stuffed into a plastic trunk that had been dumped on the street near her family home.
The 27-year-old accused, aged 27, is indicted for the killing of a child, aggravated rape, severe abuse and a barbaric act in a incident that aroused widespread horror across the nation three years ago.
Political Reactions
Far-right groups sought to gain electoral advantage from the brutal murder after it was revealed that the suspect, who was born in Algeria, had no right to reside in the country and had been served an deportation notice weeks before the incident.
Timeline of Events
The young girl had traveled a short distance from school and reached her dwelling in the 19th arrondissement, where her parents served as the property custodians, just after 3pm on Friday 14 October 2022.
The building’s video surveillance captured the accused, who was homeless and unemployed but residing temporarily in her sister’s flat in the residential block, encountering Lola just after 3pm in front of the property.
Investigation and Arrest
The girl’s family raised the alarm when their child did not appear home. An hour and a half later, the suspect was recorded in the lobby area of the building surrounded by suitcases including a large trunk.
Benkired, who was reported to provide confused accounts of the incident, was evaluated by several psychiatrists and psychologists but deemed fit for court proceedings. She has been held in Fresnes prison south of Paris for the preceding 36 months.
Political Commentary
Shortly after the killing, a nationalist political party attempted to make electoral leverage out of the alleged murderer’s unauthorized residency. Éric Pauget, of the rightwing Les Républicains, stated during legislative session that the victim had been murdered as a consequence of France’s purported weakness on migration policy.
However, MPs were advised by ministers of the centrist government to “show a little decency”.
The former legal affairs official, the ex-minister, accused them of playing “petty politics” and using “the coffin of a 12-year-old girl” to advance their political narrative.
Legal Framework and Potential Sentence
In the French legal system, any sexual violation of any kind, perpetrated against another person by violence, intimidation, menaces or unexpected action, is considered rape. Benkired faces a maximum imprisonment term if found guilty.
The trial will continue through next Friday when a verdict is anticipated.
