A woman accused of torturing and killing a 12-year-old girl will go on trial for murder in France on Friday, in a case that sparked national outrage and political controversy. Dahbia Benkired, 27, is charged with the murder of Lola Daviet, aggravated rape, torture, and an act of barbarity.
Lola's body was discovered stuffed into a plastic trunk dumped on the street near her home in the 19th arrondissement of Paris on 14 October 2022. She had disappeared after walking home from school. CCTV footage showed Benkired meeting Lola outside her building and later handling a large trunk in the entrance hallway.
Benkired, who was homeless and unemployed but staying at her sister's flat in the building, was born in Algeria and had no legal right to remain in France. She had been issued with an order to leave the country two months before the killing. The far-right Rassemblement National and other right-wing politicians attempted to use her irregular migration status to criticise France's immigration policies.
Centrist government ministers condemned these attempts, with then justice minister Éric Dupond-Moretti accusing politicians of playing 'petty politics' and exploiting a child's death. Benkired has been held in Fresnes prison for three years and, after psychiatric evaluation, has been deemed fit to stand trial. If convicted, she faces a life sentence. The trial is expected to conclude next Friday.
