Hundreds of them attend the funeral, the 12-year-old French girl Lola

The murdered French girl Lola was buried in a private circle this afternoon in the town of Lillers, near the Belgian border. The service preceding her funeral was open to the public. Hundreds of people followed the mass in the church or outside through the loudspeakers. Also present at her funeral was the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin.

The girl disappeared in Paris on Friday afternoon, October 14, after returning home from school. That same evening she was found dead, in a plastic trunk and with neck injuries. 24-year-old Dahbia B. is jailed on charges of child murder, rape and torture.

At today’s funeral, Lola’s brother said he felt he and his sister “hadn’t been able to do anything together.” He continued: “It happened so fast. I couldn’t tell you how much I loved you.”

Before the funeral, 12-year-old Lola’s parents referred to the demonstrations that took place last week after their daughter’s death. Far-right politicians seized the origin of the suspected Dahbia B. – an Algerian woman with no valid residence documents – to demand a stricter immigration policy.

Parents asked visitors to the funeral to remember their daughter “with respect and dignity”. “We hope that those who come to show their support will do so without any sign of belonging to any political organization,” the parents said in the French media. The parents also reiterated their request not to use Lola’s portrait and name for political purposes.

At the funeral ceremony, people carried white balloons with the name Lola:

Former presidential candidate Éric Zemmour previously called Lola’s murder an example of “francocide,” a term for French to be killed just because they are French. And the radical right-wing politician Alexis Jolly spoke of the murder of a “French, white, Christian girl”.

Marine Le Pen, of the populist right, has asked for “answers” from the government. Right-wing groups have organized protests in several French cities in recent days. Zemmour took part in one of these protests in Paris, with some demonstrators carrying placards with a photo of Lola.

The girl’s parents have repeatedly stated that they do not want her name and portrait to be used in political statements as demonstrations. So they repeated that message before her funeral.

President Macron previously said that the girl’s family now “needs the respect and affection of the nation.”