Female migrant 'raped and tortured girl, 12, before stuffing her dead body in a suitcase'

Lola's body was found in a suitcase in Paris by police (Image: )

An illegal migrant is preparing to stand trial in France for allegedly raping, torturing and suffocating a schoolgirl to death. Dahbia Benkired, 27, travelled to France from Algeria before she was accused of murdering 12-year-old Lola Daviet in a case that rocked the country three years ago. Investigators alleged that Benkired slashed Lola's throat with scissors and a box cutter before taping her face with duct tape, eventually killing her through suffocation.

The 12-year-old was discovered in a plastic suitcase near an apartment block in Paris on October 14, 2022. Benkired was suspected of first putting the body in the trunk of a friend's car and recruiting him to drive her to his home. She then allegedly took a taxi back to the building where her sister lived with the suitcase in tow. She was arrested the next day.

Benkired was seen on CCTV approaching the schoolgirl (Image: -)

Benkired was caught on CCTV footage approaching the young girl as she returned from school on October 14, before leading her into the flat her sister occupied in the building in Paris' 19th district, The Sun reports.

She was seen by locals in the lobby around an hour-and-a-half later carrying suitcases and a heavy trunk covered by a blanket, the investigation uncovered.

The illegal migrant told detectives she had been angry with the 12-year-old's mother who had refused to give her an entry badge for the building because she wasn't a tenant herself.

The horror incident unfolded after Benkired was ordered to leave France because she had overstayed a student visa.

Lola's mother Delphine was among the family members attending the murder trial (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The Algerian admitted in court that she had forced Lola to undress and perform a sex act on her "for my pleasure".

She added that she had been abused by family members during childhood, with the aunts she lived with before settling in France "forcing her to watch pornographic films" and "groping her".

Benkired acknowledged the "horrific" nature of the crime and asked the girl's relatives to forgive her.

She faces a maximum sentence of life in jail, with the trial expected to last until next Friday.