The grieving parents of an 11-year-old girl whose suspected killing has sparked outrage in France over failures to protect children on Sunday joined thousands of people for a silent march in her memory.
The body of the girl, named as Lyhanna, was found last week after she went missing on May 29th near the southwestern town of Fleurance.
She was last seen getting into a man’s car, and public anger grew after it emerged that the main suspect, who is now under arrest, had previously been accused of sexually abusing children.
A sea of people filled the streets of Fleurance under scorching afternoon heat for the march, which was attended by local representatives but, in line with the family’s wishes, not by national politicians.
They marched in total silence, dressed in white shirts and some holding white flowers. Around 6,000 people were present, according to the local authorities.
“Lyhanna. Never again! We love you, we miss you,” read the banner at the front of the procession, which was held by her father and other community members. Her mother walked a few steps back, while her brother was also present.
The main suspect, named as Jerome B., 41, is the father of one of Lyhanna’s school friends.
He had never been convicted despite allegations including four complaints for alleged rapes of minors against him, prompting President Emmanuel Macron last week to condemn “unacceptable” lapses in the judicial system.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has also in an unusual step apologised to Lyhanna’s family and said he is “furious” over the failures in the judiciary’s treatment of Jerome B.
Darmanin told LCI TV Sunday that he would ask prosecutors to review “all complaints concerning children” – some 70,000 cases – by July 14th.
“I will not be going on holiday,” and “no senior magistrate will be going on holiday” until he has met “one by one with the public prosecutors” to take stock of the situation, he said.
“Our whole little world has collapsed,” one of Lyhanna’s aunts, flanked by her parents and the local mayor, told the rally as it wound up.
“Lyhanna must be so moved to see from up there all these people gathered for her,” she said, adding: “Lyhanna, please forgive us, please forgive us for what you went through.”
Gregory Bobbato, the mayor of Fleurance, a small town of around 6,000 people 80 kilometres outside Toulouse, said “today, we are an angry town, an angry region, an angry country.”
Bobbato said Lyhanna’s death was the “the latest act in a tragedy that has been unfolding for far too long” and that “never again should children be prey for predators who roam with impunity”.
“I feel personally affected. I have two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. It could have happened to my family, to my son, to my daughter,” said Karine Camus, 41, dressed in white with a white rose in her hand as she took part in the march.
Herself a victim of sexual violence, Camus said young girls must speak out. “They must have the courage to talk about it for themselves.”
Manola Martin, a pensioner, who said she was a victim of rape aged 17, said she was there for her “daughters and granddaughters”.
“Unfortunately, the justice system does nothing for these people,” she said.
Jerome B., who lived with his family in the neighbouring village of Montestruc-sur-Gers, had previously worked as a staff member in schools.
The sign for the entry to his village was covered Sunday with a white sheet that had been daubed with the slogan “death penalty for paedophiles”, an AFP photographer said.
Jerome B. was charged on Monday – before the body was found – with suspected abduction and remanded in custody.
