- Hugh Schofield
- BBC News, Paris
image source, Getty Images
Lola’s murder has shocked France.
Parisians were shocked by the murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl, whose body was found Friday in a box in the courtyard of her building.
The girl, named Lola, had spent the day at school, but her father raised the alarm when he discovered that she had not come home in the followingnoon.
That same night, the arrival of a transparent plastic packaging box was reported at the foot of the building where they lived, a residential block in the 19th arrondissement where Lola’s father works as a janitor.
The body was crushed inside the box, hidden by a cloth cover. He had his hands and feet bound and was reported to have a cut on his neck, although an autopsy this weekend revealed that he had died of asphyxiation.
There were also two notes written on paper post-it on his feet: one said “0” and the other “1”.
Early Saturday, police arrested the main suspect in the murder, a 24-year-old woman born in Algeria, called Dahbia B. by the press.
The woman was identified on security video recorded at the building. In it she is seen entering the front door on Friday followingnoon in the company of Lola.
She later leaves the building pushing a box, and is later recorded acting incoherently on the street. A witness said that she asked for help in exchange for money from an “organ trafficking matter”.
However, police said they did not believe it was a serious lead. His most plausible theory is that Dahbia B.who has no fixed address, is psychologically unstable.
Also in custody is a 43-year-old man who is believed to have transported Dahbia B. and the box in his car.
Police believe that following being driven through the Paris suburbs, Dahbia B. returned to the building, where her sister also resides.
image source, Getty Images
Schoolmates and inhabitants of Paris left offerings at the doors of the building where Lola lived.
There, the two sisters reportedly had a noisy Fight before Dahbia B. left once more, this time without the box.
She spent the night in a flat in the suburb of Bois-Colombes, where she was picked up the next day.
“We can’t trust anyone”
The police have opened a murder investigation, aggravated by acts of torture. A judicial investigation once morest Dahbia B. is expected to be launched and he will remain in custody.
At school, Lola’s classmates and their parents were visibly distraught Monday morning.
The school was visited by the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye, and the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and psychological support teams were sent to comfort the students.
“My daughter cried all weekend, she hasn’t slept a wink”Gasmi, a father of two, told the newspaper The Parisian. “We can’t trust anyone now in our neighborhood. I am very scared for my children.”
The case “has turned me upside down,” a local woman told the newspaper. “This morning I followed my son on his way to school, just a few meters behind him. Just to be safe.
“I’ll take him to school from now on and pick him up too. If he finishes at 4:30, I’ll get off work at 4:00. It’s non-negotiable.”
Brigitte Macron, the president’s wife, said it was an “absolutely abominable and intolerable tragedy”.
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