French girl, 11, whose killing sparked outrage was raped: Source

PARIS – An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on June 18, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage.

The girl, named as Lyhanna, went missing on May 29 in the south-western town of Fleurance and her body was found in an abandoned silo almost a week later.

Anger grew after it emerged that the main suspect, the 41-year-old father of a school friend, had twice before been formally accused of raping a child but the investigations had been dropped or had stalled.

In the most recent case filed in August 2025, police had not yet summoned the suspect, who lived in a nearby village with his family and had previously worked in schools.

Authorities have not yet announced the results of the forensic examination of the girl’s body to determine the cause of death. They have not charged the suspect with any crime beyond abduction.

Her family’s lawyer Francois Roujou de Boubee requested privacy after the news.

“Faced with the worst that can happen to a child and to parents, their anger is matched only by their disgust,” he said.

President Emmanuel Macron said last week he feared for trust in France’s institutions over failings in investigating the main suspect.

A 2022 government report signalled limited staff and time to properly investigate allegations of child abuse. It found that in 70 per cent of cases, after hearing the suspect, investigators did not carry out a further search for material evidence from a phone, camera or computer.

Investigations are dropped for almost three out of four complaints for alleged sexual abuse of a minor, according to the CIIVISE, an independent commission.

Only 7 per cent of complaints for sexual assault of a minor result in a conviction, and only 3 per cent do for an alleged rape, it says. AFP