Several suspected arrested in rape, murder of 11-year-old boy in Somalia

GALKAYO, Somalia - Police in Puntland have arrested dozens of people in connection with the rape and subsequent murder of a boy, authorities confirmed, in a case that triggered criticism from members of the public and rights lobby groups, which demanded immediate justice.

According to authorities, at least 75 people have since been arrested in Galcayo town over the death of an 11-year-old boy, in a case that has continued to attract interest. The case has received widespread condemnation from various groups.

Samatar Abdullahi Awkah, a police officer in Galkayo, said the boy was raped in a camp belonging to Internally Displaced Persons, where he lived with his family. According to him, most people from the area where the crime occurred have been arrested.

Further, he noted, police have opened investigations into the crime upon which all those involved will face the full force of the law. Forensic science will be involved in nabbing perpetrators of the act, he added, arguing that the law will be followed strictly.

The officer further noted that the Puntland Agency for DNA Forensic Science is expected to release its findings in the coming hours. Cases of rape targeting defenseless children have been on the steady rise within Puntland, a northern state in Somalia.

Three years ago, a court in Puntland executed Abdifatah Abdirahman Warsame, 24, and Abdishakur Mohamed Dige, 46, over links to the death of a 12-year-old kid, Aisha IIyas Aden. Reports indicated that the girl had been abducted from her home before she was raped within Galkayo.

Cases of domestic violence targeting women and children are usually solved by courts and in some instances, clan elders are involved. Somalia does not have robust judicial systems given years of civil war and lately, the Al-Shabaab menace, bringing about the destabilization of the country.

GAROOWE ONLINE