In front of the 119 Manin residence, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, the eyes are red with tears. They are ten, this Wednesday morning, to have come to meditate in silence in front of the improvised memorial. On the threshold of Lola’s parents’ building, hundreds of bouquets of flowers, candles, little words and stuffed animals were left by relatives, friends of the teenager or anonymous people. Five days after the discovery of the body of the 12-year-old schoolgirl in a trunk, a few hundred meters away, the emotion has not subsided.
An emotion that has far exceeded the limits of the district. “Yesterday, there was a man who lives in Rouen who came to meditate,” says Faïza, a resident of rue Manin. Annie, she crossed the Ile-de-France to come. Originally from Rueil-Malmaison, in the Yvelines, she took public transport this Wednesday morning to drop a text in an envelope for the parents. “I wanted to come yesterday, but with the strikes, I couldn’t,” she explains. Since the announcement of the discovery of the body, this fifties is in shock. “I’m not well, I cry a lot, I think of everything she’s been through, I have the images in my head,” she whispers, before collapsing in tears.
“I come every morning”
No matter where they come from, all take a moment to pay homage to Lola, who died in horrific conditions. While in police custody, the main suspect, Dahbia B., told investigators that she had “dragged the victim to her sister’s apartment, living in the same building as the child”, had “forced her to shower before committing sexual assaults and other violence on her that resulted in death and that she would have concealed the body in the cash box, ”detailed the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, in a press release. hurry.
In front of the flower bed, Honoré cannot hold back her tears. The man is close to the schoolgirl’s father: “I haven’t slept for three days, it’s despicable. I have two children, I identified with his parents, I can’t imagine what they are going through, ”says the 76-year-old man, who dreads the moment when he will meet his friend. “If I see him, I’m going to collapse, I won’t last, but he doesn’t need that”. A few meters away, her handkerchief in her hand, Dina relights the candle she left on Saturday. For a few days, it has become a ritual for her. “It’s not on my way, but since this weekend, I come every morning, I stop for a few minutes, I relight the candle and I pray for her,” she explains. Before adding quietly: “When I think of what she went through, of these long minutes of horror, I have chills”.
“I forbade my son to go out alone”
On the other side of the sidewalk, a car stops in double file and puts on its indicators. Jean, 54, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, apologizes to other motorists stuck behind his vehicle. “I drop them off and I leave,” he shouts at them. “I made a detour before going to work, it was important to me,” he explains, tears in his eyes, before getting back in the car. Like him, some stop for just a few seconds, take a furtive look, and leave. Others remain for long minutes, prostrate, their eyes fixed on the flowers.
For some parents, the excitement has given way to fear. “I forbade my 10-year-old son to go out alone. Either I come with him or he stays at home, but it’s out of the question for him to be on the street without me, even during the day,” says Faïza, who lives a few meters from Lola’s parents’ home. “My husband, my children and I are completely traumatized,” she adds. Despite being 19, Dina’s daughter, Sofia, doesn’t want to go out alone either. “When I have to, to buy bread, run errands or take the metro, I call my mother and stay on the phone with her to make the journey. I no longer feel safe, ”says the young girl.
“It’s spinning in my head”
A kilometer away, at 7 rue Pierre Girard, near the Laumière metro station, the town hall has affixed a “psychological listening cell” sign on the gates of the multipurpose room. Two chairs have been set up outside to respect the anonymity of residents who feel the need to speak. Since Tuesday morning, a team of psychologists has been available every day, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This device of the town hallset up with civil protection, the AP-HP and the Regional Health Agency (ARS), will remain in place “as long as necessary”, explains the town hall.
A detour that Honoré has planned to make in the coming days. “It won’t hurt me to talk, it’s going on a loop in my head,” he admits. Faïza hasn’t planned to go there, but she approves of the initiative. “It’s good that this unit is set up, it will help people. We have to talk about it, externalize, whether with relatives, friends or shrinks, but we have to talk about it, ”she concedes.
A psychological unit has also been set up at the Georges Brassens college for students, parents and staff of the establishment, and in all the nursery and primary schools in the surrounding area. A tribute will be paid soon in the district, but only “when the time comes, according to the wishes of the family”, indicated the town hall of the 19th arrondissement.