DISTURBING CONTENT: Dahbia Benkired was branded a ‘monster devil’ by the mother of Lola Divet, a 12-year-old girl she confessed to raping and brutally killing in Paris
A woman branded a “monster” by her victim’s family has been sentenced after she was found guilty of raping, torturing and murdering a schoolgirl.
Dahbia Benkired, a 27-year-old from Algeria, confessed to killing 12-year-old Lola Divet, whose defiled corpse was found in the lobby of the building where she lived in Paris, France, in 2022. Benkired, who was described as a “monster devil” by her victim’s family, had abducted the tween, raped her, and slashed her throat with scissors and a box cutter.
Benkired then taped her mouth, causing her death from suffocation. The case has drawn massive public attention in France, with protesters appearing outside the court ahead of the verdict. This afternoon, Benkired was sentenced to life in prison for the heinous crimes.
Demonstrators gathered outside the court building today, calling for the death penalty to be reinstated to deal with Benkired, for whom French prosecutors sought a rare life sentence.
France’s Attorney General said Benkired had prayed on Lola “for pleasure and the satisfaction of sexual urges”, with the prosecuting official – who is not named according to French legal convention – adding she should spend the rest of her days behind bars, without any chance of parole.
Addressing the jury, the Attorney General said: “Today you have to judge three crimes marked by particular cruelty which are all punishable by life imprisonment. They are crimes which plunged a family into unspeakable suffering.
“Dahbia Benkired is extremely dangerous, and there is a maximum risk of her reoffending.” The Attorney General called for a life sentence that aims “to protect society from a woman whose extreme danger I am firmly convinced of”.
A so called “irreducible life sentence” is the harshest penalty possible under the French Penal Code, and often criticised by human rights bodies.
Lola’s mother, Delphine Daviet, 47, was in floods of tears as she faced Benkired in court on Wednesday. “Before this tragedy, we had a very simple family life, very attentive to one another”, said Ms Daviet.
Everything changed on October 14, 2022, when Lola was abducted from the aparment block where she lived with her parents, and brother.
Recalling their last moments together, Ms Daviet said: “I kissed her, I said “See you later”. Then she encoutered this thing – this devil monster.
“I feel guilty, I couldn’t save my Lola. My husband and my son also blame themselves a lot. Who could have imagined what would happen when Lola encountered this thing, this monster?” said Ms Daviet. “Why us, why Lola? My mother’s heart is forever broken.”