MONTPELLIER, France - A French court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 30 years in jail for the murder of his partner, after her body was found in 2021 buried under a concrete slab in their home.

Samire Lymani, 41, had reported Aurelie Vaquier, 38, missing on February 23 that year, around a month after she was last seen.

Her body was found two weeks later, hidden under a concrete slab that was covered with a wooden platform in their home in the southern town of Bedarieux.

Lymani, who claims she disappeared while he was away visiting family, proclaimed his innocence before he was escorted out of court.

Prosecutor Damien Kincher during the trial dismissed as "outlandish" the hypothesis of a stranger sneaking into their home to kill Vaquier and then pouring out a concrete slab under which to hide her body.

"The stranger is none other than you, Samire Lymani," he said in court in the nearby city of Montpellier.

He argued a text message sent from the victim's phone on January 28, 2021 claiming she was off to the countryside to "read and write" had in fact been written by Lymani.

Defence lawyer Mathieu Montfort said his client would appeal the sentence.

"I want a new inquiry. We need to find the person who did this," Lymani said when asked if he had any final words.

There were 94 femicides in France last year, compared to 118 the previous year, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said earlier this month.

But feminist associations say the number of women killed because of their gender in 2023 was likely higher.

The Nous Toutes ("All of us", in the feminine form) association has counted nine femicides in France so far this year.