Parents in court over daughter’s killing as trial of famous French cold case begins

The parents of a four-year old child whose body was discovered mutilated by the side of a motorway have gone on trial in France, nearly 40 years after the incident took place. 

The child, whose body was found in 1987, was identified as Inass Touloub in 2018, following more than 30 years of investigations. 

Before that point, she was known as “the little martyr of the A10,” with her death remaining one of France’s most infamous ‘cold cases’.

Due to a series of factors including a long appeals process and additional investigations, the case has taken eight years to come to trial following the parents’ arrest in 2018.   

Her mother, Halima El Bakhti, 72, is now facing trial for “torture and acts of barbarity resulting in death, without the intent to kill,” with her husband Ahmed Touloub, 74, charged with “complicity.” 

Both face life imprisonment if found guilty but are appearing in court as free individuals – under judicial supervision – following a period in pre-trial detention.

The trial is taking place in Blois, a town of fewer than than 70,000, with the courthouse having to be adapted in advance due to the high-profile attention it will receive from the media.

Body unidentified for 30 years

The body of Inass Touloub was discovered by motorway workers carrying out routine maintenance on the side of the A10 near Suèvres (Loir-et-Cher) on August 11, 1987. 

Her body was mutilated, with burn marks – some caused by an iron – several bruises, broken bones, and even bite marks. 

Advanced DNA analysis was not available at the time, so local officials in charge of the investigation had to use traditional methods in an attempt to identify the child and her killer. 

She was laid to rest in Suèvres cemetery in September 1987, with a plaque reading “In memory of the little unknown girl from the A10 motorway” (A la mémoire de la petite inconnue de l'autoroute A10.) 

Authorities staked the grave for weeks hoping that a remorseful killer might turn up. 

They also put up tens of thousands of posters across France asking for help in identifying the missing girl, but their efforts proved fruitless. 

Investigators sought answers outside of France, with information about the child handed out in 30 countries, but failed to find anything, and by 1991 the investigation was closed. 

It briefly reopened following a TV show calling for witnesses – watched by around nine million people – however none of the leads went anywhere, and it was shut down once more. 

DNA analysis on evidence held in Blois was conducted, yielding four results in 2008, presumed to be the parents of the child as well as two of her siblings, but they did not match any existing records of offenders in France.

Identified after sibling incident

In 2017, however, a match to the DNA from the evidence was flagged following a violent altercation in a restaurant. 

The man, aged 34 at the time, was too young to be responsible for the child’s death, but was immediately thought to be the brother of the murdered child.

The incident yielded a family name for authorities to investigate, with the parents quickly found at two different addresses in France (they had separated in 2010). 

They had seven children, one of whom was born in 1983 and appeared on family benefits records with the CAF office, but disappeared from all records from 1987 onwards.

She was identified as the missing child, and the parents were arrested in 2018. 

Two-week trial

Inass had been living with her maternal grandmother in Morocco, before moving to France to be with her parents, who were living in the back room of a grocery store in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine) run by her father.

She was treated violently by her mother according to family members, often slapped, beaten, and even bitten. Investigators believe the mother possibly used her daughter as a vessel to take out her anger over leaving Morocco and struggling to adapt to French life.

Inass had likeside struggled to adapt to life in France, often being unwell, crying, and struggling to eat the food. Her two elder sisters were also abused by the mother, but not to the same extent.

During questioning, the father said he was scared of his ex-wife due to her violent nature, but was afraid to report it to authorities because he feared losing his children. 

One day, he returned home to find Inass dead, with his wife claiming she had fallen down the stairs.

They decided to quickly bring forward their holiday to Morocco, leaving that night and bringing their children with them. During the drive they deposited Inass’ body on the motorway, before continuing to Morocco where they stayed for 20 days. 

The couple’s children report that their parents never spoke of the incident, and they were shut down whenever they asked questions about it.

The six siblings will sit on the side of the plaintiffs during the trial (running from November 2 - 18), alongside several advocacy groups. They are looking to answer several questions over the incident, including why the behaviour of their mother was never reported.