French court gives Algerian woman life sentence for murdering schoolgirl

"Dahbia Benkired was handed an "irreducible life sentence" for killing 12-year-old Lola Daviet in the French capital in 2022, in a case that horrified the country and sparked anti-immigration fervour because the woman did not have the right to be in France. The sentence is the harshest under the French penal code. "We believed in justice and we got it," said Lola's mother, Delphine Daviet following the verdict."

"In the verdict, the presiding judge cited the "extreme cruelty of the criminal acts", describing them as "true torture" and "total dehumanisation". "In determining the appropriate sentence, the court took into account the unspeakable psychological damage to the victim and her family in such violent and almost unspeakable circumstances," he said. The public prosecutor had argued earlier in the day that Benkired should be handed an "irreducible life sentence", saying it reflected the "extreme gravity" of the crimes and "the suffering" they caused her family."

Dahbia Benkired, a 27-year-old Algerian woman, was sentenced to an irreducible life term for raping, torturing and murdering 12-year-old Lola Daviet in Paris in 2022. Lola's body was found in a trunk in the lobby of the building where her parents worked as caretakers after she went missing in northeast Paris. The presiding judge cited extreme cruelty, true torture and total dehumanisation, noting unspeakable psychological damage to the victim and family. The public prosecutor sought the maximum sentence citing extreme gravity and suffering. Lola's mother and brother said the ruling restored their daughter's memory and truth. The case intensified anti-immigration sentiment because Benkired lacked the right to be in France.

Read at The Local France