French court sentences man to life for burning wife alive, case draws criticism of police

Fearful for her life, his victim had made a report against him but investigators found the handling of her complaint severely lacking

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Protestors hold signs in front of a banner reading “Femicides, let’s protect the living” on the sidelines of the trial of Chahinez Daoud’s husband on Monday. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:41am, 29 Mar 2025

A French court on Friday condemned a man who burned his 31-year-old wife alive to life imprisonment, in a case that shocked the country and sparked criticism of police for failing to protect her.

Mounir Boutaa, 48, will have to serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars, after which a sentencing tribunal will decide if he can be released.

“It’s an extremely severe sentence in that he has almost no chance of one day leaving detention,” Anais Divot, one of his lawyers, said.

A lawyer for the victim’s family, Julien Plouton, said that “the sentence takes into account the seriousness of the facts and the personality of the accused”.

In 2021, the French-Algerian man stalked his Algerian-born wife Chahinez Daoud following their separation, using a van that he parked outside her house near Bordeaux in southwestern France to watch her.

Lawyer Julien Plouton (right), representing Chahinez Daoud’s parents, Djohar and Kamel Daoud, in the courtroom as the trial for her murder begins on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

On May 4 of that year, Boutaa shot the mother of three in both legs with a rifle, poured petrol on her and set her on fire.