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Macron says murder and rape of Paris schoolgirl was 'extreme evil'

French President Emmanuel Macron said the murder, rape and torture of a 12-year-old girl in Paris earlier this month, for which a 24-year-old Algerian woman has been arrested and placed in preventive detention, was an act of 'extreme evil',  while he also praised her family for being 'incredibly dignified and united'.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Emmanuel Macron has called the murder of a 12-year-old girl an act of "extreme evil" in his first comments on a crime that has stunned France, reports BBC News.

The French president said the family of the girl, named Lola, needed "the respect and affection of the nation".

Lola's body was found dumped in a plastic trunk in Paris last Friday outside the building where she lived.

A 24-year-old woman has been remanded in custody on suspicion of murder, rape and acts of torture.

The woman is an Algerian immigrant whose residence permit had expired and was under orders to leave the country.

Parties on the right and far right have focused on this as a sign of a weak immigration policy.

Members of the far right held a rally in memory of Lola on Thursday in Paris, despite pleas by her family not to politicise her death.

Read more of this report from BBC News.