Thousands march for French schoolgirl murdered after police failed to question suspect

Lyhanna's father and mother take part in a silent march in tribute to Lyhanna. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Lyhanna's father and mother take part in a silent march in tribute to Lyhanna. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images Thousands march for French schoolgirl murdered after police failed to question suspect Jérôme Barella had been accused of rape in months before murder but series of delays meant police had failed to summon him for questioning Thousands of mourners have turned out for a silent march for a 11-year-old schoolgirl whose murder prompted widespread outrage when it emerged police had failed to question the suspected killer about previous child sexual abuse allegations. The parents of the girl, who has been named only as Lyhanna, led the cortege on Sunday in the south-western village of Fleurance behind a banner reading “Never again”. Most of those who marched, including children, wore white shirts or T-shirts, many bearing a smiling portrait of the young victim. Grief has been met with profound shock and anger. The killing has sparked a heated national debate over the delays and failings of France’s justice system after it emerged that the man being held in connection with Lyhanna’s disappearance and murder had been on the police’s radar since 2017. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, acknowledged there had been an “unacceptable” failure in the legal system. “We cannot ignore the fact that flaws have been exposed,” he said during a visit to Montenegro last week. “It is not a question of resources but responsibilities that will need to be determined through an official investigation.” Lyhanna was last spotted getting into a grey car, identified as belonging to Jérôme Barella, a father of two and school cleaner, in Fleurance in the Gers département on 29 May. Her body was found seven days later in a disused grain silo 15km from where she went missing. Barella has denied killing her, telling police he had dropped her off at the local swimming pool. View image in fullscreen The silent march makes its way through Fleurance. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images After his arrest, it was discovered that, last August, the mother of a 10-year-old girl had gone to the police to allege that he had raped her daughter on several occasions. The preliminary investigation, containing interviews with the victim, psychological and medical reports confirming the child had injuries consistent with sexual abuse, and details of previous accusations against Barella, was sent by police in nearby Toulouse to the prosecutor’s office at Auch in January with an instruction to question him. However, the prosecutor’s office reportedly failed to open the file for several weeks, then took a further six weeks to assign officers to the case. Barella had still not been contacted or summoned for questioning in the three months before Lyhanna was abducted and killed. Other allegations have also emerged.