Three days after the discovery of a girl's body in Paris, the alleged perpetrator is in custody.
The 24-year-old woman alternately confessed and denied the crime in her statements, the public prosecutor said on Monday evening.
The statements made by the twenty-four-year-old show that she brought twelve-year-old Lola to her sister's apartment, which is in the same building where Lola's parents work as caretakers.
There she forced the girl to take a shower, then sexually assaulted her and inflicted severe violence on her, which led to her death, the public prosecutor said on Monday evening.
She hid the body in a box.
Investigations into manslaughter, rape and torture
The autopsy revealed that the girl had suffocated.
It had numerous wounds on its face, back and neck, but these did not cause death.
No injuries were found in the intimate area.
The numbers 0 and 1 were written in red on the soles of the feet.
A 43-year-old man testified that he had brought the young woman, along with the box and two other smaller suitcases, to his home in a Paris suburb.
About two hours later he got her a taxi and she drove back to Paris with the box and the two suitcases.
Three coroners are now investigating the manslaughter, rape and torture of a minor under the age of 15 and the disappearance of a body.
The forty-three-year-old is also being investigated for allowing a body to disappear, and he is released subject to conditions.
The motive of the perpetrator is still unclear
The motive of the perpetrator is not yet known.
She mentioned a dispute with the girl's parents over an electronic door opener that was supposed to give her access to the house where her sister lives.
However, their statements were "fluctuating", emphasized the public prosecutor.
According to information from investigators, the woman was known to the police as the victim of a violent partner.
She came from Algeria and came to France legally in 2016 on a student visa.
She is considered mentally unstable.
Last August she was picked up at a Paris airport without papers and received a notice that she was required to leave the country.
Several right-wing populist politicians used this to accuse the government of its handling of immigrants.
For his part, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke of the “shamelessness of people who use this story for election campaign purposes”.
The lawyer for the alleged perpetrator expressed his condolences to the family of the 12-year-old victim.
At the same time, he asked the media not to spread "rumours" and to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence.
The twenty-four-year-old was arrested in a Paris suburb on Saturday morning.
She had been seen on surveillance footage at Lola's apartment building.
A homeless man found the girl's body, covered with sheets, in a plastic box in the courtyard of her family's home on Friday evening.
The police initially took six people into custody, four of whom were later released.
The parents of the 12-year-old had reported their daughter's disappearance and the presence of the young woman in their home to the police.