Dahbia Benkired has been sentenced to a unique whole-life term in France for the 2022 rape and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet, a case that captivated and horrified the nation.
PARIS – A French court has imposed a rare whole-life prison sentence on Dahbia Benkired for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet in a 2022 case that shocked France.
The 27-year-old Algerian national, who was in the country illegally, is the first woman in French judicial history to receive this ultimate penalty. The sentence means she must serve at least 30 years before any possibility of parole.
The court heard how Benkired approached Lola in her Paris apartment building on October 14, 2022, after the girl returned from school. CCTV evidence showed Benkired luring Lola under the pretense of showing her a sublet apartment belonging to her sister.
Prosecutors detailed that Benkired then subjected the child to a 90-minute sexual assault before torturing and killing her with scissors and a box cutter. Lola’s body was later discovered in a plastic storage box in the building’s courtyard.
Following the verdict, Lola’s mother, Delphine Daviet, stated, “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.”
Despite a psychiatric evaluation that found Benkired had “psychopathic” features but was sane, the prosecution argued for the maximum sentence.
The prosecutor told the court, “Make no mistake: no drug treatment can fundamentally change Ms Benkired’s personality. When there is no illness, there is no treatment.”
Before the jury deliberated, Benkired told the court, “I ask for forgiveness and what I did is horrible. That’s all I have to say.”