Lyhanna case: inspection report confirms 'dysfunctions' and 'individual errors' in handling of prior rape complaint
The long-awaited inspection reports on the Lyhanna case, to be made public Monday, confirm that a prior rape complaint against the suspect was lost in administrative limbo, with individual errors rather than a lack of resources blamed for the failure.
The Lyhanna case
Lyhanna, an 11-year-old girl, disappeared on 29 May in the Gers department. Her body was later found in a silo at a disused agricultural business. An autopsy concluded she had been raped, and DNA traces of Jérôme Barella were discovered on her body. Barella is now the principal suspect in her abduction, rape and murder.
The mishandled complaint
Months before Lyhanna's death, in August 2025, the mother of a 10-year-old girl named Rosa filed a complaint in Toulouse accusing Barella of repeatedly raping her daughter. The complaint was transferred between the Haute-Garonne gendarmerie and the Auch prosecutor's office in the Gers, where the alleged acts took place. After a final hearing of Rosa's mother by gendarmes in Lectoure on 14 February 2026 and a contact with the Auch prosecutor, the case went cold. Barella was never questioned or taken into custody.
- Rosa's mother files a rape complaint against Jérôme Barella in Toulouse.
- Last known action: mother of Rosa heard by gendarmes in Lectoure, contact with Auch prosecutor. No further steps taken.
- Lyhanna, 11, disappears in the Gers department.
- Inspection reports confirm dysfunctions and individual errors in handling of the August 2025 complaint.
Inspection findings
The reports from the general inspectorates of the gendarmerie and justice, obtained by AFP and several French media, confirm "dysfunctions" and "individual errors" in the handling of the August 2025 complaint. They point to personal failings rather than a lack of resources at the Auch prosecutor's office. Le Parisien reports that the jurisdiction "was not overwhelmed by other urgent or particularly sensitive cases." A source close to the investigation summarised the reports' aim as helping to
understand the incomprehensible.
Political fallout
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who had already pointed to individual failings early in the affair, now faces calls for his resignation from across the political spectrum, from La France Insoumise to the Rassemblement National and the Socialist Party. In a letter to the country's 10,000 magistrates last week, Darmanin wrote that
while reaffirming his "visceral attachment" to judicial independence. He insists he bears no political responsibility, arguing that his directives to prioritise cases of personal harm, especially child sex crimes, were not fully applied. Magistrates' unions counter that there is an avalanche of priorities and a glaring lack of resources.when professional faults are established (...) no one would understand if they were not sanctioned,
Next steps
The report's conclusions could lead to administrative investigations and possible sanctions. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has expressed his "confidence" in all police and gendarmerie investigators, adding that he would ensure the case does not "discredit the colossal work" already done. The report is due to be released publicly on Monday, 22 June.
