France: Migrant Gets Life for Schoolgirl Murder

An Algerian woman who raped, tortured and killed a 12-year-old French schoolgirl has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dahbia Benkired, 27, was handed the maximum possible penalty by a Paris court for the killing of Lola Daviet, making her the first woman to receive a full life term in France.

The week-long trial into the 2022 killing caused political outrage after Benkired was found to have overstayed a student visa and failed to comply with a notice to leave the country.

Benkired forcibly lured Lola into her sister’s apartment in the north east of Paris, where she raped, tortured and killed the schoolgirl.

The 12-year-old died by asphyxiation after she was bound with duct tape.

Benkired then stuffed her body in a suitcase and took it to a cafe, where she told a customer she was “selling a kidney” when he remarked on her suspicious luggage.

Before the verdict, the prosecution called for a sentence commensurate with the suffering of the victims and the seriousness of the crimes committed.

“The sentence must ensure the protection of society, prevent the commission of new offences and restore social balance,” the prosecution requested.

Three magistrates and six jurors found the defendant guilty of the murder of a minor and the “rape of a minor with torture or barbaric acts”.

In the verdict, the presiding judge cited the “extreme cruelty of the criminal acts”, describing them as “true torture”.

He said: “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.”