An autopsy has shown that an 11-year-old girl who went missing in France was raped before she died, an informed source said on Thursday, confirming suspicions in a case that has sparked public outrage.
Anger grew after it emerged that the main suspect, the 41-year-old father of a school friend, had twice before been formally accused of raping a child but the investigations had been dropped or had stalled.
In the most recent case filed in August last year, police had not yet summoned the suspect, who lived in a nearby village with his family and had previously worked in schools.
Authorities have not yet announced the results of the forensic examination of the girl’s body to determine the cause of death. They have not charged the suspect with any crime beyond abduction.
Her family’s lawyer Francois Roujou de Boubee requested privacy after the news.
