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<\/p>\nPARIS, June 5 (Reuters) \u2013 A body discovered in \u200bsouthwestern France was identified on Friday as that of a missing 11-year-old girl whose case has \u200csparked outrage after authorities disclosed they had not acted on previous allegations of child rape against the main suspect.<\/p>\n
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The victim, who has only been identified by her first name, Lyhanna, was reported missing in the small southern town of Fleurance on May 29, \u200bafter leaving school. The 41-year-old father of a classmate was arrested on evidence that he was seen \u200bwith her on the afternoon she disappeared.<\/p>\n
After a m\u1d00ssive search, the body was discovered \u2060on Thursday in farmland near her hometown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, the victim\u2019s iden\u0442\u03b9\u0442y has been confirmed through DNA testing. \u200bThe body found is indeed that of Lyhanna,\u201d the prosecutor\u2019s office in the southwestern city of Agen, which is \u200boverseeing the case, said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n
Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on French television that the judicial system \u201cfailed to protect this little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to offer my apologies to this family and to the French people, who are rightfully shocked \u200band terrified by such failures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said medical examiners planned to perform forensic analysis to determine \u200bthe cause of the girl\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
A lawyer for Lyhanna\u2019s family said the sadness and anger of her parents \u201ccannot be expressed\u201d, while \u200cthe \u2060suspect\u2019s lawyers said he must receive a presumption of innocence.<\/p>\n
The case sparked public outcry after officials revealed the suspect had been accused in several cases involving young girls.<\/p>\n
The most serious was a mother\u2019s complaint in August that he raped her 10-year-old daughter several times. Despite medical evidence supporting that accusation, the suspect was not questioned by police.<\/p>\n
France has \u200bsummoned all state prosecutors to \u200ba meeting next week, \u2060and findings from an investigation into the handling of Lyhanna\u2019s case were expected within two weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t look at the faces of her family members and tell ourselves \u200bthat everything went all right,\u201d President Emmanuel Macron told reporters as he entered \u200ba summit in \u2060Montenegro on Friday.<\/p>\n
Political figures on the right and left have said the case exemplifies a broader failure by the judicial system to protect women and children from S\u0454xual violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is whether all the warning signs were addressed in a timely \u2060manner, whether \u200ball procedures worked as they should have, and whether the right \u200bpriorities were set,\u201d Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a statement after meeting with the ministers of justice and the interior.<\/p>\n
Reporting by Juliette \u200bJakhbiro, Makini Brice, Inti Landauro and Michel Rose and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kevin Liffey and Cynthia Osterman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS, June 5 (Reuters) \u2013 A body discovered in \u200bsouthwestern France was identified on Friday as that of a missing 11-year-old girl whose case has \u200csparked outrage after authorities disclosed….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n