Having heard no news from her after her arrest, Mrs Bouaicha's son and mother, Mr Hafedh Benhlal and Mrs Taous Belfatmi, who witnessed the arrest, went to Ain Oulmane tribunal to ask about her. The judicial authorities refused to register their complaint and said they did not know anything about Mrs Bouaicha's whereabouts. The family went to all prisons in the region to look for her, as many families of the disappeared did at the time, but none of the detention centers' authorities recognized detaining her.

About six months after Mrs Bouaicha's arrest, a group of former detainees from the Ain Oulmane prison told the family that they had seen Dhahbia in the Setif military sector. According to them, some were released, others were "disappeared".

Eighteen years after her disappearance, her children do not know if they will see their mother again.

From 1993 to 1998, between 8,000 and 20,000 people were arrested or abducted by all branches of the Algerian security services and by state militias following the coup of 11 January 1992. To date, the perpetrators of these violations remain unaccountable for their acts; many of them, and in particular high ranking army officers, were even promoted to the rank of General or General-Major by President Bouteflika.

Since the promulgation of the 2006 decree implementing the Charter for Peace and Reconciliation, any complaint regarding these violations is illegal.