Mother on trial in France over 1980s torture, killing of 4-year-old daughter
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This photograph shows pictures of late Inass Touloub during the trial of the parents of Inass Touloub a four-year-old child allegedly killed by her parents in 1987, at Blois’ courthouse, central France on November 2, 2026. The end of an interminable wait: the parents of Inass Touloub, a four-year-old girl found dead and mutilated in 1987 on the side of the A10 motorway, are appearing on Monday before the Loir-et-Cher Assize Court in Blois, 39 years after the events. Alain Jocard/AFPBLOIS, France — A 72-year-old woman on Monday went on trial in France accused of torturing her four-year-old daughter to death in the 1980s, after a DNA match reopened the cold case.
The main defendant, Halima El Bakhti, spent the entire day in court in the town of Blois trying to hide her face with a scarf. At lunchtime, when she left the courtroom, she was pursued by child rights activists crying “shame” and calling for justice.
Her husband, Ahmed Touloub, a 74-year-old from whom she is now separated, earlier struggled up the courthouse’s steps with a cane, wearing a black cap, sunglasses and face mask.
The mother has been charged with torture that led to death, while her former partner has been accused of failing to report the abuse in the trial, to last until November 18.
The remains of Inass Touloub were found in a ditch by the side of a French motorway in 1987.
Her body showed awful signs of violence, including iron burns and human bites, thought to be those of a woman, according to the forensic report seen by AFP.
No child had been reported missing in the area, so police launched a plea for help spanning 30 countries, plastering her image in tens of thousands of French schools and town halls.
The case was left unresolved.
But decades later a DNA sample from a suspect in a separate violence case triggered a match with genetic traces left on Inass’s clothes and the blanket wrapped around her body.
The DNA turned out to belong to the victim’s brother, leading to the reopening of the case and their parents being arrested in 2018.
The couple had seven children in total, including Inass.
In custody, neither confessed to the violence that led to their daughter’s death, but instead accused each other of domestic abuse.
The defense has requested additional expert assessments regarding the health of their clients: the father has mentioned memory problems and the mother has severe kidney pain.
The request was granted for Touloub and is expected to take place in the coming days. It has been refused for the mother.
Every week in France, a child dies from being beaten by their parents, according to government statistics.