The main suspect in the brutal rape and murder of the 12-year-old Parisian schoolgirl known only as Lola was residing in France on an expired student residence permit and had been ordered to leave the country within 30 days almost two months ago, local media reported late on Monday.
The 24-year-old female suspect known as Dahbia B., who is an Algerian national, had come to France legally in 2016 on a student residence permit, BFMTV reported. Her permit, however, had expired, and on Aug. 21, she had been detained by border police at a French airport and issued an order to leave the country within 30 days.
Lola’s body was found on Friday evening in the 19th arrondissement of Paris curled up in a suitcase, shackled, with a deep wound to her throat, and marked with inscriptions. According to the autopsy, carried out on Saturday, her death was due to asphyxiation.
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The main suspect was indicted on Monday on the counts of murder of a 15-year-old minor accompanied by rape; torture or acts of barbarism; rape of a minor with torture; and acts of barbarism. She was remanded in custody.
Referring to “several sources close to the investigation,” BFMTV reported details of the account given by the main suspect to authorities while in police custody.
She allegedly accosted schoolgirl Lola on Friday afternoon when she took her to her sister’s apartment, which was in the same building as Lola’s family home.
It was in her sister’s apartment where the 12-year-old was subjected to rape and physical abuse, which resulted in her death, before her body was hidden inside a suitcase.
According to the French broadcaster, the suspect recounted approaching a male on the street and telling him she had organs to sell, but the individual swiftly dismissed her.
She was allegedly then picked up, along with a suitcase, by a male friend who drove her to his home in Asnière-sur-Seine. The 43-year-old man, also of Algerian descent, was indicted on Monday on suspicion of “concealment of a corpse” and placed in pre-trial detention.
The main suspect returned later, with the suitcase, on Friday evening to her sister’s apartment where she was questioned by her sister about the contents of the case. Following her refusal to answer and a subsequent altercation, the female reportedly fled the premises leaving the suitcase in the building’s courtyard; a homeless man later discovered it and reported it to the police.
The heinous murder has shocked the world and been reported in global media, with conservative political heavyweights in France now demanding a renewed debate on mass migration and the threat it poses to national security.
“Another clandestine assassin. It’s going crazy. As long as they continue to think that mass immigration is an opportunity for France, the tragedies will multiply.”
Marion MaréchalMarion Maréchal and Marine Le Pen have weighed in on the tragedy with the latter calling for further action to prevent a repeat of the gruesome murder.
“The revelations about the profile of the woman suspected of the massacre of little Lola, who we learn is in an irregular situation, are a textbook case on the uncontrolled nature of illegal immigration in our country,” Le Pen wrote on Twitter. “The debate must open… finally,” she added.
Leader of the Reconquête party, Éric Zemmour, tweeted: “Of Algerian nationality and in an irregular situation, it’s official: The assassin of Lola should never have crossed her path. Once again.”
According to BFMTV, the main suspect’s sister, as well as the homeless man who found the suitcase, had also been taken into custody but have since been released.
Investigations into any motive or involvement by other individuals remain ongoing.
