The death of an 11-year-old schoolgirl in southwest France has triggered soul-searching and recrimination in a country already roiled by a string of child abuse scandals. Lyhanna went missing after school on May 29 in her hometown of Fleurance, northwest of Toulouse. Her body was discovered a week later in a disused grain silo 15 kilometres from home. The 41-year-old father of a classmate was arrested on evidence that he was seen with her on the afternoon she disappeared. The case sparked outrage after officials revealed he had been accused in several cases involving young girls. The most serious was a mother's complaint in August that he raped her 10-year-old daughter several times. Despite medical evidence supporting the accusation, the suspect had still not been questioned by police by the time Lyhanna went missing nine months later.
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Une marche silencieuse est organisée en hommage à Lyhanna, une fillette de 11 ans retrouvée morte le 4 juin après avoir été portée disparue depuis le 29 mai, à Fleurance, dans le sud-ouest de la France, le 7 juin 2026. © Lionel Bonaventure, AFP
