France jails man for killing girlfriend, hiding body

Samire Lymani, 41, had reported Aurelie Vaquier, 38, missing on February 23 that year, around a month after she was last seen

By AFP
January 17, 2024
French police officers can be seen in this image. — AFP/File
French police officers can be seen in this image. — AFP/File

MONTPELLIER, France: A French court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 30 years in jail for the murder of his partner, after her body was found in 2021 buried under a concrete slab in their home.

Samire Lymani, 41, had reported Aurelie Vaquier, 38, missing on February 23 that year, around a month after she was last seen.

Her body was found two weeks later, hidden under a concrete slab that was covered with a wooden platform in their home in the southern town of Bedarieux.

Lymani, who claims she disappeared while he was away visiting family, proclaimed his innocence before he was escorted out of court.

Prosecutor Damien Kincher during the trial dismissed as “outlandish” the hypothesis of a stranger sneaking into their home to kill Vaquier and then pouring out a concrete slab under which to hide her body.

“The stranger is none other than you, Samire Lymani,” he said in court in the nearby city of Montpellier.