Portugal Colonial - France questions judicial system after girl's suspected murder

A girl who has been named in the press only as Lyhanna went missing May 29 near the southwestern village of Fleurance after she was last seen getting into a man's car.

After days of combing the countryside, investigators found the body of a child wearing the same clothes as Lyhanna in an abandoned silo on Thursday. Formal identification is under way.

A 41-year-old father of two, whose daughter was a school friend of Lyhanna, has been detained as the key suspect.

Incomprehension has grown nationwide after it emerged the suspect had twice previously been formally accused of raping a child, but the investigations had either been dropped or stalled.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu cancelled a trip to the north of the country on Friday to host a cabinet meeting in Paris on the matter.

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has said all were "terrified by this malfunction" and was, according to his team, to convene all public prosecutors in Paris on Monday morning.

- 'Deep dysfunctions' -

Prosecutor Clemence Meyer on Wednesday listed the previous complaints against the suspect.

In December 2017, a mother reported that her 17-year-old daughter was in a relationship with the man. The case was dropped in 2018 after the girl said she had consented.

In January 2022, a complaint accused him of raping a child younger than 15 in 2020 at his home in southwestern France. The case was dismissed in 2024 for lack of evidence.

In a third case, on August 22, 2025, the mother of a girl born in 2014 accused him of raping her child between September 2024 and May 2025 at his home, the prosecutor said.

But police still had not questioned him when 11-year-old Lyhanna disappeared nine months later.

The mayor of Fleurance Gregory Bobbato said on Thursday the case raised serious questions.

"There is a deep dysfunction in investigations and in the way they are conducted," he said on Thursday.

"Must we always wait for fully established evidence to be produced before finally doing something to protect our children?"

Anne-Cecile Mailfert, of the Women's Foundation activist group, said earlier this week she was "angry" and better laws were needed to prevent sexual abuse.

"Another 10-year-old girl found the immense courage to tell her parents. They supported her, they believed her, she went to the police, they filed a complaint, and then nothing happened," she said.

"The system doesn't work," she added.

burs/ah/rmb

G.M.Castelo--PC