{"id":507513,"date":"2025-10-17T19:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507513\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:02:17","slug":"a-homeless-stranger-a-missing-schoolgirl-and-a-suitcase-how-a-childs-death-ignited-frances-immigration-wars-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507513\/","title":{"rendered":"A homeless stranger, a missing schoolgirl, and a suitcase: how a child\u2019s death ignited France\u2019s immigration wars | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"child\u2019sThe brutality of the crime provoked a national outcry and became a flashpoint for political opportunism. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and members of her Rassemblement National party seized on the case to criticise France\u2019s immigration policies (File Photo)\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A French court on Friday is set to open the trial of Dahbia Benkired, a 27-year-old woman accused of torturing and killing 12-year-old Lola Daviet in a case that ignited political debate over immigration and public safety in France.<\/p>\n

Lola\u2019s body was found stuffed inside a plastic trunk near her apartment building in Paris\u2019 19th arrondissement on October 14, 2022, a discovery that sent shockwaves through the country, The Guardian reported. Benkired, who was born in Algeria and had been ordered to leave France two months before the murder, faces charges of murder of a minor, aggravated rape, torture, and acts of barbarity.<\/p>\n

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According to investigators, Lola was last seen on CCTV footage walking home from school when she encountered Benkired outside her building, where her parents worked as concierges. Later, Benkired was seen in the same hallway carrying several suitcases, including the trunk where the girl\u2019s body was later discovered, the report added.<\/p>\n

Following her arrest, Benkired reportedly gave contradictory statements about the events. She was examined by psychiatrists and psychologists but was ultimately deemed fit to stand trial. She has been held at Fresnes prison, south of Paris, since her detention three years ago.<\/p>\n

The crime provoked a national outcry and became a flashpoint for political opportunism. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and members of her Rassemblement National party seized on the case to criticise France\u2019s immigration policies, blaming the government for failing to deport Benkired, The Guardian reported. Conservative MPs from Les R\u00e9publicains echoed similar sentiments, claiming that France\u2019s \u201cweakness on immigration\u201d had led to the girl\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Government ministers at the time urged restraint and condemned the politicisation of the tragedy. Then-justice minister \u00c9ric Dupond-Moretti accused the far right of using \u201cthe coffin of a 12-year-old girl\u201d for political gain, calling it an act of \u201cpetty politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under French law, any sexual act involving violence, coercion, or threat constitutes rape, and Benkired faces a possible life sentence if convicted.<\/p>\n

The trial, expected to last a week, is being closely followed across France. A verdict is anticipated next Friday, marking the culmination of a case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The brutality of the crime provoked a national outcry and became a flashpoint for political opportunism. Far-right leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[166141,166133,166139,2000,299,166145,36,166134,166143,166136,65708,166140,166144,166132,166137,166135,166142,166138],"class_list":{"0":"post-507513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-aggravated-rape-case-france","9":"tag-dahbia-benkired-trial","10":"tag-eric-dupond-moretti","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-far-right-politics-france","14":"tag-france","15":"tag-france-child-murder-case","16":"tag-france-murder-trial-2025","17":"tag-french-immigration-debate","18":"tag-french-justice-system","19":"tag-fresnes-prison","20":"tag-immigration-and-crime-france","21":"tag-lola-daviet-murder","22":"tag-marine-le-pen-reaction","23":"tag-paris-19th-arrondissement-killing","24":"tag-political-fallout-over-lola-daviet-case","25":"tag-rassemblement-national"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}