The Paris courtroom fell silent on October 17, 2025, as Dahbia Benkired, 27, stood accused of one of the most heinous crimes in recent French history: the rape, torture, and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet in 2022. In a stunning opening, Benkired confessed to the killing, apologizing tearfully to the victim’s family before the proceedings even began. The case, which has gripped France for three years, unfolded with graphic CCTV footage and witness testimonies that painted a picture of calculated cruelty born from a trivial dispute. Benkired, an Algerian national who had overstayed her visa, allegedly lured the girl into an apartment, subjected her to hours of torment, and then dragged her body in a suitcase to the lobby of the very building where Lola’s parents worked as caretakers. As the trial at the Paris Assize Court continues, it has reignited debates on immigration, mental health, and the fragility of neighborly trust in urban France.

Lola Daviet, a bright-eyed sixth-grader with dreams of becoming a dancer, vanished on October 14, 2022, while walking home from school in the northeastern Paris suburb of Romainville. Her mother, Delphine Daviet, reported her missing around 9 p.m. that evening after the girl failed to return from her after-school activities. What followed was a frantic 30-hour search involving local police, volunteers, and Lola’s distraught family. The breakthrough came the next afternoon when a resident in the family’s apartment building noticed a foul odor emanating from a black suitcase abandoned in the lobby. Inside, police discovered Lola’s naked body, crammed into the cramped luggage with her throat slit, duct tape binding her limbs and face, and mysterious numbers—”1″ on one foot and “0” on the other—scrawled in marker. Signs of sexual assault and blunt force trauma covered her body, including cuts from scissors and a box cutter. The medical examiner ruled her death by asphyxiation due to the tape over her mouth and nose, following prolonged torture.

The building at 134 Avenue du Général de Gaulle was no ordinary residence—it doubled as a social housing complex where Lola’s parents served as on-site caretakers, a detail that added a layer of intimate horror to the crime. Delphine and her husband, Philippe, had lived there for years, managing keys and maintenance for residents. Benkired, who had moved into her sister’s second-floor apartment in the building earlier that month, had clashed with Delphine over access. According to investigators, Benkired sought a building pass to enter freely after her sister provided her with a flat key, but Delphine refused, citing protocol. This seemingly minor slight festered into rage. Benkired later told police she felt “humiliated” and plotted revenge—not against Delphine, but against her innocent daughter.

CCTV footage, pivotal to the prosecution’s case, captured the sequence of events with chilling clarity. At around 3 p.m. on October 14, Benkired is seen approaching Lola in the building’s courtyard as the girl returned from school, carrying her pink backpack and wearing a light jacket against the autumn chill. The two entered the stairwell together, Benkired leading the way to her sister’s empty apartment. What transpired inside remains reconstructed from forensic evidence and Benkired’s post-arrest statements: Over the next several hours, the 24-year-old (at the time) allegedly raped the girl, beat her with household objects, and slashed her with scissors and a utility knife. Duct tape was used to bind Lola’s hands, feet, and mouth, muffling her screams. Benkired reportedly scrawled the numbers on Lola’s feet as a cryptic “message”—possibly referencing a ritual or personal code, though she has offered no clear explanation.

As night fell, Benkired zipped Lola’s body into the black suitcase—a piece of luggage borrowed from her sister’s closet—and dragged it down the stairs. Grainy footage shows her struggling with the heavy load in the early hours of October 15, pausing to catch her breath. A neighbor even assisted by holding the lobby door open, mistaking the trunk for bulky laundry. Benkired then wheeled it outside, leaving it propped against the building’s facade, mere feet from where Delphine and Philippe would arrive for their morning shift. The suitcase’s placement was no accident; prosecutors argue it was a deliberate taunt, ensuring the parents would discover their daughter’s remains first. From there, Benkired fled on foot, hailing a taxi to a nearby café where she sat sipping coffee, the suitcase’s contents festering just blocks away.

Benkired’s erratic behavior post-crime raised immediate red flags. At the café, a regular noticed the trunk she’d left outside and commented on its odd smell; she quipped darkly, “I’m selling a kidney,” before vanishing into the Parisian streets. She convinced a male friend to drive her and two other bags (containing bloodied clothes and the murder weapons) to his home in the suburbs, then took another taxi back toward Romainville. Spotting police swarming the area, she bolted again, but was apprehended the next day hiding in a park, disheveled and rambling. In custody, she initially denied involvement but soon cracked, confessing to the rape and murder while claiming a “blackout” from cannabis use—up to 20 joints a day, she admitted—to cope with grief over her parents’ deaths in 2019 and 2020.

The investigation revealed a troubled backstory for Benkired. Born in Algeria, she arrived in France at 14 in 2013 on a family reunification visa, settling in the Paris region. She pursued studies in social work but dropped out, accruing debts and minor run-ins with the law. By 2022, her student visa had expired, and French authorities issued an expulsion order in August, mandating her return to Algeria within 30 days—a directive she ignored. Online searches on her phone days before the murder included queries about witchcraft and exorcisms, hinting at a descent into paranoia or delusion. Prosecutors portray her not as insane, but as a calculating predator whose grudge escalated into sadism.

The trial, expected to last two weeks, has drawn intense media scrutiny and political fire. Conservative and far-right figures, including Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, have weaponized the case to decry lax immigration enforcement, labeling it a failure of French borders. Benkired’s status as an overstayer has fueled rallies and op-eds demanding stricter deportations. Yet Delphine Daviet, seated in court wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with “You were the sun of our life, you will be the star of our nights,” pleaded for focus on justice, not politics: “Stop exploiting my daughter’s death.” The family, including Lola’s father and siblings, has endured graphic evidence presentations—photos of the suitcase, autopsy diagrams—prompting walkouts and sobs from supporters.

Benkired faces life in prison if convicted on charges of rape, torture leading to death, and murder of a minor under 15. Her defense argues diminished capacity due to trauma and substance abuse, but prosecutors counter with the premeditated elements: the lure, the weapons, the symbolic foot markings. As one analyst put it, “This wasn’t impulse; it was ritualized rage.”

Three years on, Romainville bears scars. A memorial plaque at the building honors Lola, and neighborhood watches have multiplied. The case echoes global fears of urban predation, but for the Daviets, it’s personal devastation. “Lola was light,” Delphine told reporters outside court. “Now, we fight for her shadow to bring change.”

The trial resumes next week with victim impact statements. Benkired’s confession may hasten a verdict, but questions linger: Why Lola? Why the numbers? In a city of lights, one dark grudge eclipsed a child’s future.