Lola, the 12-year-old schoolgirl whose body was found in a suitcase ten days ago in Paris, will be buried this Monday in northern France. Her parents have called for "dignity" and "respect" before their daughter’s funeral.
In a statement, Lola's parents said: "In the midst of the fear and pain we are experiencing, we wish for peace and meditation in order to mourn. For Lola's memory, we hope that the various ceremonies will take place in a spirit of serenity and calm, far from political and media agitation.
"We understand the desire for information to understand the incomprehensible, but it must be done with dignity and respect," they continued, asking "everyone to keep the necessary distance."
They added that the "support of an entire population is a precious help in overcoming this painful ordeal. But we hope that those who will come to give their support" will do so "without official scarves or any particular sign of belonging to a political organisation."
On Wednesday, French government spokesman Olivier Véran praised the "courage" of Lola's parents "who are facing the unspeakable".
The parents have asked us "to show our collective support for what they are going through without adding to it," Véran stressed. The French government has accuses the right wing and far-right of exploiting Lola's case for political gain.
«Les parents sont anéantis mais ils font preuve de beaucoup de dignité (...) Ils parlent encore de #Lola au présent. Leur priorité maintenant, c’est de la ramener dans le coin»
— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) October 18, 2022
Gérard Ogiez, maire de Fouquereuil (62), village où la famille a ses racineshttps://t.co/GAC4LJGNd4
'Show them all our compassion'
The funeral of the 12-year-old schoolgirl is scheduled for Monday at 2.30pm in Lillers, her mother's home town in northern France.
The service will be "open to all those who wish to pay their last respects", said her parents, but "the burial in the cemetery will be done in the strictest privacy".
The ceremony will be celebrated by the Bishop of Arras, Olivier Leborgne, in the church of Saint-Omer, the diocese said on Thursday.
France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin will attend the ceremony.
On Friday, a gathering to "pay tribute to Lola" and "support her family and friends" was planned in Fouquereuil, the town in the Béthune region where the girl's father is from.
"As of now, Lola's parents have decided to leave Paris to return to live in Fouquereuil. Before their final return, this is an opportunity to come and show them all our compassion in these moments of great sorrow," wrote the mayor, Gérard Ogiez, on the website of this town of 1,600 inhabitants.
