IT
HR
NL
FR
JA
RO
RU
ES
TR
France hands down first true life sentence to a woman for brutal murder of 12-year-old
For the first time in France’s history, a woman has been sentenced to a full life term in prison. On Friday, a Paris criminal court convicted 27-year-old Dahbia Benkired, an Algerian national, for the sexual assault, torture, and murder of 12-year-old schoolgirl Lola Daviet.
Under the non-appealable ruling, Benkired will never be eligible for release – the harshest penalty available under French law, Le Monde reported. In delivering the verdict, the presiding judge emphasised the “extraordinary cruelty” of the crimes, describing them as acts of torture that caused “indescribable psychological suffering” to the child’s family.
A tragedy that shocked france
The murder took place in October 2022 and deeply shook the French public. Lola Daviet, who lived in Paris’s 19th arrondissement, disappeared on 14 October after failing to return home from school. Her parents, the caretakers of the building, saw on CCTV footage that their daughter had entered the premises accompanied by an unknown woman.
Just a few hours later, a homeless man discovered Lola’s body in the courtyard of the building, stuffed inside a plastic bag. A post-mortem revealed she had died from respiratory and cardiac failure and had suffered severe physical abuse.
Investigators determined that Benkired had lured the girl into her sister’s flat in the same building, where she tortured, sexually assaulted, and killed her. She then hid the body in a suitcase before later transferring it to a plastic bag. Using surveillance footage, police were able to identify and arrest the suspect within hours.
Defence rejected and mental assessment
During the trial, Benkired admitted to committing the crime, though her motives remained unclear. Three psychiatric experts unanimously concluded that she exhibited psychopathic traits but did not suffer from a mental illness that could have diminished her criminal responsibility.
Her defence lawyer argued that Benkired herself had likely been a victim of domestic and sexual abuse and had endured a traumatic childhood. Nevertheless, the court found that these experiences did not excuse or mitigate the horror of her actions.
Political fallout: immigration debate rekindled
The case also reignited political debate in France. It later emerged that Benkired should have left the country in 2022 after her student visa expired and she was issued an expulsion order – which she ignored. Following the murder, several conservative and right-wing politicians called for stricter immigration controls. However, Lola’s mother pleaded with political figures not to exploit her daughter’s death for political purposes.
True life sentences are extremely rare in France. Since their introduction in 1994, only four men have received this punishment – making Dahbia Benkired the first woman ever to be sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole.