Dahbia B., a 24-year-old homeless Algerian, has been charged by the French prosecutor’s office for the death of a 12-year-old girl, Lola, in Paris on Friday.
The woman, who reportedly suffers from psychiatric disorders, was charged with murder and rape, with aggravated torture and barbarity, a judicial source told AFP.
A judge ordered the woman into pre-trial detention.
The court also ordered the arrest of a 43-year-old man who allegedly received and transported the alleged perpetrator of the murder.
On Friday evening, Miss Lola’s lifeless body was found in a common area of the building where she lived in Paris. Her parents had reported her missing after Lola failed to return from school, a few yards from their home.
The suspect, who was detained in the early hours northwest of Paris on Saturday, appears on video surveillance of the building. A witness also mentioned the presence of this woman, who, according to various media, asked him for help in moving a large suitcase.
The autopsy concluded that Lola died of asphyxiation with significant neck injuries, a source close to the investigation said.
The investigation is now trying to find out what caused the crime and what happened from the minor’s disappearance to the discovery of her body by a resident.
At Georges Brassens’ school, where the girl studied, the feeling this Monday was one of fear and disbelief. In the morning, representatives of the students’ parents organized to welcome the teenagers.
“My daughter is scared. I didn’t want to come today,” confided the mother of a student, who asked for anonymity.
Mafy, whose son was in Lola’s class, said the boy had “not wanted to eat anything” since Friday.
Education Minister Pap Ndiaye was also at the school, where he took part in a minute of silence in Lola’s teachers’ lounge and classroom, according to the ministry.
Authorities have set up a psychological support unit for students, teachers and parents affected by the tragedy that has hit this family neighborhood.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and other political leaders expressed shock at the young woman’s death. “Paris mourns little Lola. Our thoughts are with her and her family,” Hidalgo wrote on Twitter after visiting the school in the northeast of the French capital on Monday.
Source: DN
