A girl her 20s ‘raped and thrown from 6th floor’ in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia - In an apparent case of rape and murder, a young girl in her twenties has been gang-raped and subsequently thrown her from the roof of a six-story apartment building in Mogadishu.

Though the post-mortem report is awaited, the police suspect this is a case of rape and murder against Hamdi Mohamed Farah, a high school graduate and rising star who had truly a brighter future ahead.

The horrific incident which took place in the Waberi district last night sent shockwaves through the community with tributes pouring in from Somali at home and abroad who called for swift justice for Farah.

The rapists are still at large, said police after reached the spot and arrested the owner of the building.

Following the state collapse in 1991, rape became "normal", due to the lack of strong government in Somalia, a country where one-third of the victims of sexual crimes are children under the age of 15.

Early this year, two sisters aged just three and four have been abducted in Afgoye, about 30-Km northwest of Mogadishu and then rapped outside the town, according to the bereaved Somali parents.

The minors’ rape has added to the shock in Somalia where reports of rape increased in recent years. The conflict created a large population of displaced women who are especially vulnerable to sexual violence.

Most rape cases go unreported and unpunished as many rape survivors and their families are afraid to come forward to publicly confront perpetrators because they fear being shunned by their community.

In many cases, rape victims are deemed unmarriable.

The United Nations reports nearly 800 cases of sexual and gender-based violence in Mogadishu alone within the space of six months in 2013; the reality is that the number could be much higher, per Human Rights Watch. 

GAROWE ONLINE