France shocked by second schoolgirl rape and murder in a month

France was stunned by the rape-and-murder of a 14-year-old girl in South France, weeks after the brutal murder of a Parisian 12-year-old girl.

Police arrested a man aged 31 who was suspected of rape and murdering Vanesa. He forced her into his car while she was leaving school in Tonneins (France) that day. Authorities said that he left the body in an unoccupied house and was quickly identified by security camera footage.

On Saturday (19 November), the prosecutor of Agen, south France, said that the man confessed to his crime when police tried to arrest him at his Marmande flat.

According to authorities, the man was sentenced in 2006 at the age of 15 to a 15-day suspended prison term for sexual assault towards another minor.

This murder occurs just weeks after France was hit by the brutal murder of Lola, a 12-year old girl. Lola's battered body was discovered in a suitcase outside her Paris residence.

A 24-year-old female suspect has been charged with murder, rape, and other acts of torture.

Lola's assassination became a source for political tension. Opposition parties seized on the profile and illegal immigrant of the suspect to demand tougher immigration policies.

Both cases have seen far-right opposition criticize judicial and political authorities for being too soft on crime and failing to do enough to keep dangerous people off the streets.

Dante Rinaudo (mayor of Tonneins) told reporters on Monday (21 November) that the girl's Colombian parents want to bury their daughter in Grenada, Spain where they lived for several years before moving to France.

He stated that he had launched an online fundraising campaign to help the family, and would organize a Friday (25 November) march for the victim.

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