Lawyer for murdered French girl’s family calls for more justice system funding

Tens of thousands of people protested across France, including in front of the justice ministry in Paris, on Monday evening. Photograph: Prezat Denis/ABACA/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Tens of thousands of people protested across France, including in front of the justice ministry in Paris, on Monday evening. Photograph: Prezat Denis/ABACA/Shutterstock Lawyer for murdered French girl’s family calls for more justice system funding The death of the 11-year-old, named only as Lyhanna, has pushed the issue of male violence against girls to the top of the agenda A lawyer for the family of an 11-year-old girl whose disappearance and murder sparked protests across France has called for more funding for the struggling justice system, amid a political row over the French state’s failure to tackle sexual violence against children. “Frankly, if the justice system had more resources, this tragedy and all the others wouldn’t have happened,” said the family’s lawyer, François Roujou de Boubée, on Tuesday. “The victim’s family and I trust in the justice system. So enough is enough.” Roujou de Boubée said the family of the girl, named only as Lyhanna, whose body was found in south-western France last week, did not want the government to use her murder for political reasons or to promise any new law or reform. Nor should the government be blaming investigators, he said. View image in fullscreen Lyhanna, 11, went missing on 29 May; her body was found a week later. Photograph: Family handout/AFP/Getty Images Lyhanna’s murder has pushed the issue of male violence against girls to the top of the agenda ahead of next year’s presidential election. She went missing on 29 May near Fleurance, a small town of about 6,000 people that lies 50 miles (80km) outside Toulouse. Her body was found seven days later in an out-of-use grain silo between two villages in the Gers area. She was last seen outside her school in the car of a 41-year-old man, Jérôme Barella, the father of one of her classmates. Barella, who was taken into custody before Lyhanna’s body was found, has denied killing her, telling police he had dropped her off at a local swimming pool. There was outrage in France when it emerged that Barella had been reported to police several times for the alleged rape of girls in recent years, but had not been arrested . In August 2025, he was reported to police for an alleged series of rapes of a 10-year-old girl, but nine months later, when Lyhanna went missing, he still had not been questioned. He had worked as a cleaner at several schools, and was fired from one for alleged inappropriate behaviour online with a female student. On Tuesday, the mother who reported Barella to police last year for the alleged rapes of her then 10-year-old daughter said she would now sue the state and the justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, over the failure to arrest and question the suspect. The woman, using only her first name, Audrey, claimed Barella had manipulated her daughter to pr