The body of 19-year-old french girl Philippine Le Noir de Carlan was found half buried in Bois de Boulogne park, Paris on the 21st of September.
It was reported that autopsy results showed that she had died of asphyxiation.
A 22-year-old man originally from Morocco – who was previously convicted of rape in 2019 when he was a minor – was arrested in connection with her death after being located in Switzerland where he had feld to.
The suspect, named as Taha O., was an illegal immigrant who until three weeks before Philippine’s murder had been placed in a detention centre in preparation for deportation, however he was released by a judge.
His DNA was found at the crime scene and he was located in Geneva after a three day manhunt.
Philippine’s body was found by her family who had used a tracker on her phone to search for her. She was studying economics and financial management at Paris Dauphine University.
She was supposed to go to her parents home after having lunch in the area of where she was found but never turned up.
A vigil was held in memory of Philippine on the Wednesday following the discovery of her body outside the Saint-Pierre du Lac church in Montigny-le-Bretonneux where the teenager used to visit regularly to pray, according to Le Parisienne.
A woman who joined the vigil said “I don’t know the family personally but we are part of the same community. It’s absolutely tragic what’s happening,”
Her funeral took place on the 27th of September at Saint-Louis Cathedral in Versailles where Phillipine, who was from a Catholic family, made her Confirmation.
The woman who was raped by the suspect in 2019 has come forward to express her shock that the man who served five years for his assault on her became the suspect in a murder which took place just three weeks after his release from the detention centre.
Taha O had been sentenced to 7 years for the crime which took place in a park in Paris when the victim was 23-years-old, however he was released early and immediately transferred to the deportation hub.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has now joined in calls for a parliamentary enquiry into the case.
Taha O was released from the detention centre on the 3rd of September after being informed that Morocco had not responded to French authorities’ requests to authorise his entry into his homeland.
Three days after that date Morocco gave authorisation to send Taha who had by then disappeared.
The Times reported that the woman who was raped by Taha in 2019 said, “Philippine could have been my sister.”
“I would like the launch of a parliamentary inquiry into the prevention of repeat offending in cases of sexual and sexist crimes.”
She wrote: “I did everything possible so that what happened to me would not happen again. I filed a lawsuit so that the rape I suffered would be … recognised, so that my attacker would be found guilty and so that I would recognised as a victim. I held firm during a two-year investigation and trial, telling myself that this initiative would help to protect other women.”
The woman said that despite what Taha had done to her, “immediately after being freed, he appears to have offended again and committed an irreparable act. If that is the case, why? Why did the prison service fail to stop this repeat offence? Why didn’t they stop this spiral of violence that led to the murder of a young woman?”