Somalia: Puntland sets execution date for 3 rapists

GAROWE, Puntland – Somalia’s northeastern Puntland state has on Sunday announced the execution date for three men convicted of gang-rape and murder of a young girl in Galkayo town in 2019, Garowe Online reports.

Puntland State Attorney General Mohamud Hassan said the rapists – Abdifitah Abdirahman Warsame, Abdishakur Mohamed Dige, and Abdisalan Abdirahman Warsame will face the firing squad on 11th February 2020.

The trio has been sentenced to death in May 2019 after they were found guilty of brutally raping and strangled to death Aisha Ilyes Aden, an 11-year-old girl in Galkayo, the regional capital of Mudug province in February 2019.

The minor’s disgusting rape and murder galvanized large protests across Puntland and brought global attention to the long-chaotic country’s sexual violence epidemic.

Aden was abducted at a market in northern Puntland’s Galkayo town and her body was found the next morning near her home. A post-mortem found she had been gang-raped, her genitals mutilated and strangled to death.

Demonstrations have been held in Puntland and Somalis have taken to social media using the hashtag #JusticeForAisha calling for a proper investigation into the murder.

Puntland has passed the country’s first Sexual Offences Law in 2016, which criminalizes rape, sexual harassment, and online sexual offenses.

GAROWE ONLINE