An Algerian woman received the harshest penalty in the history of France after raping, torturing, and murdering a 12-year-old girl.
“We restored this young girl’s memory. We restored a shattered truth,” said Daviet’s family lawyer Clotilde Lepetit, after the verdict, according to CNN.
A French judge handed 27-year-old Dahbia Benkired a life term in prison for the brutal murder of Lola Daviet. In October 2022, French authorities found Daviet’s body mutilated in a truck within the premises where her father and mother worked as caretakers in Paris. Hours before the body was discovered, the victim had been declared missing.
Upon further investigation, detectives retrieved CCTV footage from a camera near the apartment that showed the victim being escorted by Benkired into the building, where her sister is also a resident. Two hours later, the defendant was seen leaving the building alone, but this time carrying a heavy trunk.
The killing sparked outrage in the French communities and reignited a stricter immigration law since Benkired was already scheduled to be deported after her student visa expired.
An autopsy report showed Daviet’s cause of death was ruled as cardiorespiratory failure with signs of asphyxiation and cervical compression. During the defendant’s interview, she told investigators she forced the 12-year-old to take a shower before assaulting her sexually and ultimately killing her.
Benkired apologized for her actions, while prosecutors requested that the judge sentence the defendant to life without the possibility of parole. In addition, psychiatric experts also testified that the defendant had psychopathic tendencies with no curable mental health issue.
“The sentence must reflect the extreme gravity of the crimes committed, their cruelty, and the suffering they caused her family,” said the prosecutor, according to Le Monde.
Instead, Benkired will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years.
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