A Moroccan women’s rights NGO denounced Friday, March 31, an “unfair” verdict after three people “who repeatedly raped” an 11-year-old minor in a village near Rabat were sentenced to two years in prison.
The Criminal Division of the Rabat Court of Appeal sentenced on March 20 to two years in prison three men prosecuted for “embezzlement of a minor” and “indecent assault on a minor with violence”, according to the information site Médias24 which called the sentence ” shocking”.
One of the men was sentenced to two years in prison and the other two to two years, including 18 months, said the same source.
The minor, 11 years old at the time of the events and now 12 years old, “suffered repeated rape under threat” which led to a pregnancy, said the NGO Jossour Forum des Femmes Marocaines in a press release published Friday.
This is an “unfair” verdict for the victim, denounced the association, which is calling for “severer penalties for this heinous crime”.
The three defendants — who were also ordered to pay damages for a total amount of 4,500 euros — faced between 10 and 20 years in prison, according to the Moroccan penal code.
Moroccan sociologist Soumaya Naamane Guessous also denounced “an unacceptable injustice” in an open letter addressed to the Minister of Justice.
The INSAF association, which supports the minor in the case, has announced that it will appeal the judgment, said Medias24.
In Morocco, NGOs and the media frequently sound the alarm on cases of sexual violence against minors and call for tougher sanctions.
