In the aftermath of the discovery of Sihem Belouahmia’s body, many questions still remain unanswered, both around the night of her disappearance and about her relationship with the man who confessed to having killed her.
A week of unbearable waiting with a dramatic outcome. The young Sihem Belouahmia was found dead in the Gard after seven days of intense search. The main suspect, arrested on Tuesday January 31, finally confessed to having killed the high school student. Indicted and placed in pre-trial detention, he made a confession which enabled the investigators to find the remains of the young woman. However, many questions remain unanswered at this stage in this case. Some of the statements of the respondent are refuted by the victim’s family and he does not seem to have been very talkative either in his statements on the circumstances of the death. Update on the case.
Who was Sihem Belouahmia?
Sihem Belouahmia was a young woman aged 18, living in the town of Salles-du-Gardon, in the Gard, north of Alès and 60km north of Nîmes. Described as uneventful and problem-free, she disappeared on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, and was not heard from again after leaving her grandmother’s home. The high school student was finally found dead a week later, on Thursday February 2, on a secluded country lane.
What happened on January 25?
The course of the evening of January 25 has not yet been clearly established by the investigators. The 18-year-old would have left the social housing occupied by her grandmother Fatima, 95, around midnight. The schoolgirl’s father said that her mother heard her come home around 11 p.m. and then come out of the apartment a few minutes later. She would have just retrieved her phone, without taking any belongings or identity papers. According The Parisian, the young girl would have indicated by telephone to one of her friends that she was going to join Mahfoud H. the night of his disappearance. “I will find him,” she would have said. For his part, the lawyer for the victim’s family said that “we do not know if she went to join him, if she was kidnapped, if she was kidnapped.” The continuation of the investigation should make it possible to determine more precisely the sequence of events between the departure from the grandmother’s house and the tragedy.
What do we know about the death of Sihem?
At this stage, only the statements of the main suspect, who has admitted the facts, give indications to the investigators. According to his words, referred to by The Parisian And BFM-TV, the young Sihem would have died of suffocation. The media hold this information from a well-informed source since it indicates that it is the suspect who confessed. For her part, the public prosecutor of Nîmes did not come forward, during a press conference organized on Thursday February 2: ” “I only have for information what the indicted said. I will leave it to the medical examiner to report his findings within the next week.”
Who is the prime suspect?
The main suspect is therefore Mahfoud Hansali. It is the former companion of a cousin of Sihem. He is 39 years old and grew up in La Grand-Combe, the municipality of residence of Sihem. Out of school since 4th grade, he multiplied odd jobs… and delinquency, as reported Free lunch.
The man who confessed to having killed Sihem is not unknown to justice, far from it. The man already has 13 mentions in his criminal record: five for offenses against property and eight related to driving a vehicle. His biggest conviction was pronounced in 2015: 12 years in prison for thefts and robberies. “He was released from prison after having served his sentence in full,” said the prosecutor. He had since been under judicial supervision.
The prime suspect is known to be a knowledgeable offender. Psychiatric experts who have studied him in previous cases describe him as a “sociopath since adolescence”. “His personality is not psychiatric but criminological. He has not internalized the law, nor the authority”, explained an expert in 2016.
The speech of the family of Sihem
Azzedine Maalou, the first cousin of Sihem spoke to the press this Friday, February 3. At first reluctant to speak to the press, the family wished to express themselves “out of thanks”, welcoming the support received but also the investigators. Accompanied by Sihem’s brother and cousin, Azzedine Maalou also agreed to testify to recount their pain and “say how hard it is”. Her cousin described Sihem as “an ordinary person who loved life, full of ambition” who was also “much loved in high school”. “We loved him, we can’t say more,” he added, moved.
During this family speech, Azzedine Maalou returned to the profile of the suspect. The ex-companion of his cousin, a man who has already been convicted several times by the courts: “his criminal record speaks for him, there is a lot of harm to say about it. We could write books about his wickedness” lamented his family , adding however that no one has the slightest indication that there was a relationship between Sihem and this gentleman, no one has proof of it”.
In her testimony, Azzedine Maalou also said she “regrets the slowness of justice” because if she “had had state resources made available, she could have judged this man earlier and this could have avoided the tragedy”.