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Wife of Suspect in Lyhanna Case Files Rape and Domestic Violence Complaint

This development widens a judicial probe after forensic tests linked the main suspect to the 11‑year‑old's rape, which preceded her death.

Ed JONES / AFP [Ed JONES / AFP]
La femme de Jérôme Barella, suspecté du meurtre de la jeune fille dans le Gers, a déposé plainte pour viol et violences conjugales, a-t-on appris vendredi 26 juin.
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Overview

  • Lyhanna vanished on May 29 and her body was found on June 4, after an autopsy showed she had been raped and forensic tests found the suspect's DNA on her body.
  • Jérôme Barella was placed under formal investigation on June 1 and his charges were expanded to include murder and rape of a minor following the autopsy results.
  • Barella's wife filed a complaint alleging repeated rapes and domestic violence and was interviewed by investigators on June 18, reporting abuse that she says began in 2014.
  • Authorities reassigned an earlier child complainant's case to the Agen section de recherches after an inspection found failures in follow-up by the Condom gendarmerie, and the interior minister sought forced reassignments for gendarmes identified in the report.
  • Barella remains in pretrial detention at Mont‑de‑Marsan under suicide‑risk supervision, his family life has been disrupted with his wife leaving home and their children removed from school, and the case has triggered wider judicial and administrative reviews of how past complaints were handled.