A woman who raped and murdered 12-year-old Lola Daviet in Paris has been handed a rare whole-life sentence in a case that has shocked France.
Dahbia Benkired, aged 27, must spend at least 30 years in prison after a panel of judges and a jury decided to impose the country's harshest possible penalty.
A whole-life term is extremely rare in France and Benkired is the first woman to receive it.
Those who have been given the sentence include serial killer and rapist Michel Fourniret and jihadist Salah Abdeslam, who took part in the 2015 Paris attacks which killed 130 people.
Following the verdict, Lola's mother Delphine Daviet said: We believed in justice and we got it. Her brother Thibault added: We have restored the memory of my sister, we have restored the truth.
Warning: This story contains distressing details
Lola was murdered in October 2022. Her body was discovered in a plastic storage box in the courtyard of the building where she lived in north-eastern Paris.
Benkired is an Algerian immigrant who was under orders to leave the country. The prosecutor in the trial argued for her to receive the longest sentence possible, emphasizing her psychopathic traits.
The presiding judge noted the extreme cruelty of the criminal acts and expressed concern over the psychological damage inflicted on Lola's family.
Benkired lured Lola into an apartment and subjected her to a brutal sexual assault before killing her. CCTV footage revealed Benkired's actions leading up to the murder.
The case has drawn attention from French politicians, leading to discussions surrounding immigration policy. The Justice Minister criticized the use of this tragedy for political gain, emphasizing the need for a sensitive approach to such matters.
