France: Man sentenced to 18 years in jail for burning alive pregnant teenager

A court in France has sentenced a man to 18 years in jail for stabbing and burning alive his 15-year-old girlfriend.

The 2019 killing of the secondary school pupil revived outrage in France over the number of women who die at the hands of intimate partners.

The court was told that the accused, a 17-year-old high scool student at the time, had lured the victim to a shed in the town of Creil north of Paris to kill her and burn her body.

Post-mortem forensic examination revealed “multiple wounds” inflicted by a knife, but also that the victim was still breathing at the start of the fire.

According to public prosecutor Loic Abrial, the crime was “premeditated at every stage.”

He had sought a tougher, 20 or 30-year sentence, but the court took the accused’s status as a minor into consideration.

In response, the victim’s brother cried angrily. “18 years! That’s justice in France,” he shouted at the special juvenile court in Oise, and had a tense exchange with the accused before collapsing and being taken to hospital.

(With inputs from AFP)

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