The gory murder of a French schoolgirl that left Paris shocked

The gory murder of a 12-year-old schoolgirl whose body was discovered in a trunk on Friday is rocking Paris. A homeless 24-year-old woman and an older man suspected of sheltering her have been arrested in the case. The woman has been charged with the rape and murder of a minor under 15, sources close to the matter said. A judge ordered that she be held in provisional custody. Let’s take a closer look at the case: As per BBC, the girl spent Friday at school. It was when she did not return home in the afternoon that her father, a concierge in the residential block, raised the alarm. A transparent plastic packing box containing her body was found at the foot of the building in the 19th arrondissement on Friday evening. Suspect nabbed via CCTV The main suspect, a 24-year-old Algerian woman identified as Dahbia B was arrested on Saturday. Dahbia B was nabbed in Bois-Colombes in Paris’ northwestern suburbs after investigators tracked her movements on CCTV cameras from the building and the surrounding area as well as using phone records and physical searches. Her father, the custodian in the building, was unsettled by seeing the unknown woman enter the building in Paris’ 19th district alongside his daughter when he checked the CCTV recordings. A resident told BFMTV, “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.” “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. An eyewitness who also saw the suspect at the scene said that she had offered him money to help her move a large trunk, several media outlets reported.

One eyewitness told BBC she asked for help in return for money from an “organ-trafficking affair”.

Prosecutors said in a press release Monday that under questioning, the woman made “varying statements, switching between admitting and denying the facts of the case.” A judicial source confirmed to Metro UK that Dahbia B was charged with “the murder of a child under 15, rape, and torture.” But she eventually said she had brought the girl to her sister’s apartment in the same building, where she forced her to take a shower. The woman said she had then “committed harm of a sexual nature and other violent acts against her that caused her death, and hid her body in the trunk,” prosecutors said. However, Metro UK quoted a law enforcement source as saying that the accused “somehow earned her victim’s confidence and led her into a cellar below the building, where the attack happened.”

According to the autopsy, the young girl died due to “cardio-respiratory failure with signs of asphyxia and cervical compression”.

Other non-fatal wounds were found on her face and back as well as large gashes on her neck, and the numbers 0 and 1 were written in red on the soles of each of her feet. They had been put there by a “device”, police told BFMTV. “Investigations are continuing to determine exactly what happened (and) to establish the criminal responsibility of the people involved,” prosecutors added. “The attacker had been talking about selling organs and body parts, but none of this makes sense,” the New York Post quoted an official as saying.  “The suspect is believed to suffer with serious psychological problems. She was living on the street, but had friends and family in the Paris area.” Six people, including the suspect’s sister and others who had contact with her in the time immediately following the killing, have so far been placed in custody in relation to the case, with four since released. The 43-year-old man also questioned in custody on Monday admitted that he brought the 24-year-old woman to his home with the trunk and two suitcases, where he said she stayed for two hours before leaving again in a chauffeur-driven car he had called for her. As per BBC, police say that Dahbia B then returned to the apartment building where her sister also is a resident. The two sisters are reported to have had a noisy row, before Dahbia B left again – spending the night in a flat in the suburb of Bois-Colombes where she was picked up the next day. The suspect’s lawyer Alexandre Silva expressed sympathy for the victim’s family, before calling on the press not to report “rumours” and insisting on the presumption of innocence for his client. Residents shaken Residents placed flowers at the gate of the family’s building over the weekend. [caption id=“attachment_11472321” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A photograph shows bunches of flowers displayed outside the victim’s building in Paris. AFP[/caption] Meanwhile, school authorities have announced they will set up psychological aid for staff and pupils at her school and others in the area. One mother told AFP that her daughter, another pupil who knew her by sight, was “not doing well today, she doesn’t want to go to school.” “Today it’s time for mourning and for the investigation, which seems to be progressing quickly,” 19th district mayor Francois Dagnaud said during a visit to the Georges-Brassens school. “What’s important is that the main suspect for now has been arrested, there’s no psychopath roaming the streets of this neighbourhood,” he added after local parents reported fears for their children’s safety. “Of course, the fact that a 12-year-old child can die in such circumstances is overwhelming for everybody,” he added, saying that counselling would also be offered to local residents. “My daughter cried all weekend, she hasn’t slept a wink,” Gasmi, a father of two, told Le Parisien, as per BBC.

“We can’t trust anyone now in our neighbourhood. I am very afraid for my children.”

“It’s turned me upside-down,” a local woman added. “This morning I followed my son on the way to school, just a few metres behind him. Just to be safe. “I’ll take him to school from now on and I’ll go and get him too. If he finishes at half past four, I’ll leave work at four. It’s non-negotiable.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .