The tragic murder of a 12-year-old girl in France by an Algerian migrant has led to a national outcry and calls for stricter immigration enforcement. The girl, Lola Daviet, was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and brutally killed in 2022, her body found mutilated and partially decapitated in a suitcase. The horrific crime was committed by Dhabia Benkired, a 27-year-old Algerian woman who had overstayed her visa in France and was working as a prostitute at the time.
Benkired was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a first for a woman in France. The case has shocked the nation and led to widespread protests over perceived lax immigration enforcement.
Lola’s mother, Delphine Daviet, revealed to the court the devastating impact of the crime on her family. She shared that her husband, after years of sobriety, began drinking heavily the day their daughter’s body was found and eventually died of grief in 2024.
During the trial, the court was presented with graphic evidence of the torture Lola endured before her death. Benkired had lured Lola into her sister’s apartment, forced her to undress and perform a sexual act, and then tortured her. She stabbed Lola with scissors and suffocated her with duct tape.
After the murder, Benkired stuffed Lola’s body into a suitcase and discarded it in the lobby of an apartment complex. The body was later discovered by a homeless man who reported it to the authorities. Mysteriously, the numbers ‘1’ and ‘0’ were found written on Lola’s feet.
Delphine Daviet referred to Benkired as a “monster” in court and questioned why her daughter had followed her. Lawyers suggested that Benkired may have sought revenge on the Daviet family after they refused to give her a key to the Paris apartments where they were caretakers.
Before his death, Lola’s father wrote a letter expressing his incomprehension at the cruelty inflicted on his kind-hearted daughter. Benkired, in court, asked the family for forgiveness, acknowledging the horror of her actions.
The gruesome details of the case have led to protests across France, with many demanding stricter immigration controls. Benkired had been ordered to leave France just two months before the murder. Lola’s mother and brother advocated for Benkired’s life sentence and expressed satisfaction with the trial’s outcome.