Several hundred people gathered in southwestern France on Friday to bid farewell to an 11-year-old girl whose suspected murder sparked protests across the country and exposed failures in the country’s judicial system.<\/p>\n
The body of the girl, named as Lyhanna, was found last week after she went missing on May 29 in the southwestern town of Fleurance.<\/p>\n
The suspect, a 41-year-old father of a school friend of the victim, had twice before been formally accused of raping a child, but investigations had been dropped or had stalled.<\/p>\n
Around 60,000 people protested the killing across France this week, some demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.<\/p>\n
Mourners gathered at a local cemetery under the bright sun, with pallbearers carrying a small blue coffin with the child’s body to its final resting place.<\/p>\n
One mourner wore a T-shirt with the photo of the girl and the words: “Our honour. We will neither forget nor remain silent.”<\/p>\n
“We are not saying goodbye to a symbol or a cause, but to an 11-and-a-half-year-old girl: Lyhanna,” said the mayor, Gregory Bobbato, praising her parents’ “dignity”.<\/p>\n
On Friday morning, flags flew at half-mast at Fleurance town hall, and flowers, candles and toys were laid at the foot of a cedar tree outside the school where Lyhanna was last seen.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron said he feared for trust in France’s institutions after a botched investigation into the main suspect, Jerome Barella.<\/p>\n
Barella lived with his family in the neighbouring village of Montestruc-sur-Gers and had previously worked in schools.<\/p>\n
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