Jérôme Barella's wife files rape and domestic‑violence complaint amid Lyhanna murder probe

Jérôme Barella, a 41‑year‑old interim worker, remains the main suspect in the June 2026 murder and rape of 11‑year‑old Lyhanna, whose body was found in a grain silo in the Gers department. While already under investigation for murder, rape on a minor and earlier charges of kidnapping and sequestration, Barella’s wife – mother of two girls aged seven and eleven – lodged a formal complaint on 18 June alleging multiple rapes and ongoing domestic‑violence, claiming the assaults began in 2014. She was interviewed by the Toulouse section of the gendarmerie’s research unit. Barella is being held in isolation at the Mont‑de‑Marsan prison. The case has previously drawn attention to numerous prior complaints of sexual offenses against minors and a recent inspection report highlighting procedural failures and delays in earlier investigations, including a separate allegation by an 11‑year‑old girl named Rosa. The new spousal complaint adds another layer to the complex judicial proceedings surrounding the Lyhanna case.