Woman charged with rape and murder of schoolgirl, 12, found inside suitcase in Paris
17 October 2022, 12:56
A 24-year-old woman has been charged with murder, rape and torture after allegedly slitting the throat of a French schoolgirl and placing her corpse inside a suitcase.
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Dahbia B, a homeless woman from Algeria, appeared before examining magistrates in Paris on Monday and was indicted in connection with the gruesome killing of 12-year-old Lola Daviet.
Haunting CCTV footage from last Friday shows both the alleged murderer and her victim next to the block of flats where Lola lived.
Police have been investigating the death of the girl – who has been dubbed Lola – after her body was found tied up in a plastic suitcase close to her home on Friday, having died of asphyxiation.
Her feet and wrists were tied up, she had tape around her face, her throat had several cuts and the numbers "one" and "zero" were imprinted on her.
They had been put there by a "device", police told BFMTV in France.
A suspect and her sister, both in their 20s, were arrested on Saturday in Paris.
Read more: Body of 12-year-old girl found tied up in suitcase in French capital, baffling investigators
CCTV showed a suspect wearing white trainers, leggings and a jumper.
Now, an image of "Lola" has been released as police pour over CCTV that shows a suspect stand outside Lola's home with a suitcase – thought to be the same one she was found in.
Footage also showed her enter Lola's building ahead of the girl.
She was found at a block of flats in the 19th arrondissement, a few streets away, after she failed to get home from school.
Officers found signs of a kidnapping in the basement.
A resident told BFMTV of the suspect: "We saw her go into the building, she was all alone... we saw her half an hour later with a suitcase, she was speaking a bit with everyone, she seemed to be a bit crazy."
He said the suitcase was left in the street as she bought a croissant.
"She was struggling to carry the suitcase, we thought it was because it was heavy items and she was quite slim - we never thought it was a body... It was 5pm and she was walking around with that suitcase, she even left it outside a cafe and went to the bakery opposite to buy a croissant as if nothing had happened," he added.
