Somalia: Puntland’s top Court upholds death penalty for rapists

GAROWE, Puntland - The High Court of Puntland State of Somalia on Thursday reaffirmed its verdict upholding the death sentence to three convicts who gang-raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl, Garowe Online reports.

Abdishakur Mohamed, Abdifitah Abdirahman, and Abdisalan Abdirahman were found guilty of raping and killing Aisha Ilyes Aden, a teenager in the divided Galkayo city, in the central Somali region of Mudug on 25th February 2019.

The convicts appealed to the high court to review their sentence last May.

Aden was abducted at a market in the town and her body was found the next morning, February 26th dumped on a street near her home. An autopsy revealed she had been gang-raped and subsequently strangled to death.

Aisha’s case sparked outrage, with demonstrations and protesters’ calls for authorities to use the country’s landmark 2016 Sexual Offenses Law, which criminalizes rape, sexual harassment, and online sexual offenses.

The ruling Thursday was not only a test for Puntland state’s new sexual violence law, the Sexual Offense Act but also a powerful signal of support for the rule of law in general in Somalia’s most stable and oldest Federal Member State.

GAROWE ONLINE