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PARIS – Court in French sentenced him to 18 years prison to a teenage boy on Friday (9/6/2023). The sentence was handed down because the teenager stabbed and then burned his 15-year-old girlfriend alive.
The 2019 killing of a high school student, identified in court only as Shaina, reignited anger in France over the number of women who have died at the hands of intimate partners.
As AFP reported, the court heard that the accused, a 17-year-old high school student at the time, had lured Shaina to a warehouse in the town of Creil north of Paris to kill her and set her body on fire.
A post-mortem forensic examination revealed “multiple wounds” inflicted by the knife, but also that Shaina was still breathing when the fire started. According to Public Prosecutor Loic Abrial, the crime was “premeditated at every stage”.
He had sought a more severe sentence, 20 or 30 years, but the court considered the status of the accused as a minor.
Responding to this, Shaina’s older brother, Yasin, cried angrily. “18 years! That’s justice in France,” she shouted at the special juvenile court in Oise. He then fainted and was taken to the hospital.
The restrictions prevented the media from identifying the accused, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence.
“Why? Why?” he said in reaction to the ruling, after four hours of deliberations.
“You are wrong, I am innocent.”
Defense attorney Elise Arfi said it was “premature” to comment on a possible appeal. This is a shocking case in France where a woman is killed by a partner or former partner every three days, according to official figures.
Shaina’s murder was shocking, not only because of her young age, but also because two years earlier she had been a victim of sexual assault, for which four other young people were given suspended sentences ranging from six months to two years in prison.
Described by her mother as a “cute and smiling” girl, Shaina may have been in the early stages of pregnancy at the time of her murder, according to investigators. The day before he was killed, he had left after a family dinner. In her handbag relatives found a positive pregnancy test.
(esn)
