Dahbia Benkired has become the first woman in France to receive the nation’s harshest sentence — life in prison without parole — for raping, torturing, and murdering a 12-year-old girl.
The family of victim Lola Daviet described Benkired, 27, as a ‘devil monster’ for the ‘extreme cruelty’ inflicted upon the young girl.
Lola’s body was found inside a suitcase in the lobby of her Paris apartment in October 2022. Her legs, feet, wrists, and face were bound with tape and she had at least 38 stab wounds across her body.
Delphine Daviet, Lola’s mother, was in floods of tears as she faced her daughter’s murderer in court on Wednesday.
She said: ‘Before this tragedy, we had a very simple family life, very attentive to one another.’
The family’s lives were changed forever when Lola was abducted from her apartment block on October 14, 2022.
Delphine’s final words to her daughter as she kissed her goodbye were, ‘See you later.’ It was the last time she would see her daughter alive.
The tragedy for the Daviet family did not end with Lola. Her father, Johan Daviet, 49, died in February last year – his death was caused by heavy drinking in the aftermath of his daughter’s attack.
Delphine said: ‘He drank from morning to night. He died of grief, devastated by his demons.’
Before his death, Johan left a letter on the door of the apartment belonging to Benkired, where she raped, tortured and murdered his daughter.
He wrote: ‘My darling, I still don’t understand why there was so much cruelty and barbarity towards you, you who were so kind.
‘I can’t wait to see you again.’
The note was signed: ‘You dad, who loves you for life.’
Benkired, who had been homeless at the time and was reportedly earning money as a prostitute, forced Lola to perform a sex act on her before partially severing her head and stuffing her body into a suitcase.
In court on Wednesday, Benkired revealed that Lola had begged the woman not to hurt her before being led into her apartment.
On the day of the attack, Benkired argued with her ex-partner – it had angered her so much that she wanted to hurt someone.
The court heard: ‘I wanted to hurt him, but not little Lola. He hurt me so much that I wanted revenge, I hated him,’ she said. ‘I love him very much, but I wanted to hurt him. He had a gun at home, I was planning to shoot him, but not to kill him’.
Just 15 minutes after the argument, Benkired crossed paths with Lola as she was coming home from school.
As Lola kindly helped Benkired carry her suitcases upstairs, it was at that moment that she decided she was going to harm the young girl.
Once Lola was in Benkired’s home, she asked her to undress and take a shower – the court heard.
The murderer went on to explain how she sexually assaulted Lola and ‘slammed her head against the shower wall’ with her hand.
Benkired said: ‘In the shower, for me, she turned into a ghost. She said nothing; she didn’t talk.
‘I was told that when I taped her up, she was still alive. For me, she was dead.’
Benkired also ‘started to slap her’ because she was ‘afraid she would tell her family. All the hatred I had inside me, I took it out on her… Either way, I knew she was going to die.
‘It’s not that I wanted to kill her, but that I wanted to hurt someone. But since I had raped her, I might as well kill her,’ Benkired said.
After minutes of agony, Lola died from suffocation, with her body also showing signs of knife mutilation.
The Attorney General on Friday said: ‘There are a multitude of wounds on Lola’s body, at least 38. At least two blows with scissors perforated the rib cage, causing unimaginable suffering.’
Images of Lola’s injuries, including traumatic genital injuries, during Monday’s hearing forced several family members out of the room.
The medical examiner’s report stated that the 12-year-old victim was ‘vaginally and anally penetrated’ while she was still alive.
CCTV footage showed the moment Benkired opened a suitcase containing Lola’s body just hours after the murder in a bar on Rue Manin.
A pair of scissors, an oyster knife and an IKEA knife were found in her flat with traces of blood.
Before her guilty verdict, Benkired, an Algerian migrant who has outstayed her student visa, asked for forgiveness.
Crowds outside the trial were not willing to forgive as they called for her to receive the death penalty.
As Lola’s devastated mother and brother sobbed in an embrace in the courthouse, the judge said: ‘This decision will not give you back Lola. However, we hope that it will be a step in your recovery process.’
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