World · Europe · 2 hrs ago
Parents go on trial in France over daughter’s 1987 death
Halima El Bakhti and Ahmed Touloub are on trial in Blois, France, over the death of their daughter Inass.
Inass was four when her body was found beside the A10 highway in 1987, with evidence of severe injuries.
Her identity remained unknown for 30 years, until DNA matched her to a sibling.
The mother is charged with torture and abuse resulting in death, while the father is charged as an accomplice.
Both face possible life imprisonment if convicted.
Inass’s siblings and the town of Suèvres, where she was buried, have joined the case as plaintiffs.
The trial will examine the parents’ alleged roles in her death and the years-long effort to identify her.
Halima El Bakhti and Ahmed Touloub are standing trial in France over the 1987 death of their daughter Inass.
The trial opened on November 2, 2026, at the criminal court in Blois, in the Loire Valley.
El Bakhti is charged with torture and acts of barbarity resulting in death without intent to kill, while Touloub is charged as an accomplice.
Inass’s body was found beside the A10 highway on August 11, 1987, but her identity was not established until 2017 through DNA.
The couple’s six children and the town of Suèvres are among those who have joined the case as plaintiffs.
- Who
- Halima El Bakhti and Ahmed Touloub, Inass Touloub’s parents, are on trial.
- What
- The mother is charged with torture and acts of barbarity resulting in death without intent to kill; the father is charged as an accomplice.
- When
- The trial opened on November 2, 2026. Inass’s body was found on August 11, 1987.
- Where
- The trial is at the criminal court in Blois, France. Her body was found beside the A10 highway in Loir-et-Cher.
- Why
- They are accused of torturing and abandoning their daughter, whose injuries resulted in her death.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Inass’s body was found beside a highway in Loir-et-Cher.
DNA evidence established Inass’s identity.
Her parents were arrested.
The trial of her parents opened in Blois.
- Victim
- Inass Touloub, aged 4
- Body found
- August 11, 1987
- Location
- Beside the A10 highway, Loir-et-Cher
- Identity established
- 2017, through DNA
- Trial venue
- Criminal court in Blois
- Charges
- Mother: torture and acts of barbarity resulting in death; father: complicity
4 sources
Mother, 72, on trial in France over 1980s torture killing of 4-year-old daughter
Parents accused of torturing, killing and abandoning child to stand trial, three decades later
Les habitants de Suèvres attendent l'ouverture du procès des parents d'Inass Touloub, la martyre de l'A10
What people are saying
This little girl could not remain unknown like that. The whole town took her in, like an adoption.
As time went by, we realised all the abuse she had suffered and we felt for her every time.
This town needs to be present because I think it is the only legal entity that was able to cherish her.