Waris Dirie. Photo / Reuters
The family of African former model Katoucha Niane asked French judges yesterday to investigate their suspicions she was murdered.
The family filed a legal complaint with an investigating judge, formally saying they suspected her death was a homicide, an official said.
The Guinean-born model's body was found in
the Seine River last week. She was 47.
Known simply as Katoucha, she was one of the first African women to attain international stardom as a model and was a vocal opponent of female genital mutilation.
French police initially said an autopsy of Katoucha's body revealed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that she could have fallen accidentally into the river.
The legal filing came the same day as a wake in Katoucha's honour at the Grand Mosque of Paris. Some 200 people, including model Naomi Campbell, attended the ceremony.
Katouche, former top model for Yves Saint Laurent and other famous designers, had been missing since January. She lived in a houseboat near Paris' Alexandre III bridge, and her handbag was later found on the boat.
After quitting the runway, she turned to speaking out actively against female circumcision, describing her own experience at age 9 in a book, Katoucha, In My Flesh, published last year.
Meanwhile, Waris Dirie, the Somali-born supermodel and former James Bond girl who launched a worldwide campaign against female genital mutilation, was found by police yesterday in central Brussels, three days after she disappeared.
Dirie was found hours after police announced they were launching a nationwide search for her. She had last been seen getting into a cab after a mix-up over a hotel in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Prosecutor's spokeswoman Estelle Arpigny said Dirie was being questioned by police about the disappearance and appeared to be in good health.
