2 arrested after raping, killing mentally ill minor in Morocco

Two individuals were arrested last week on suspicion of raping a mentally ill minor, causing her death. The victim’s body was discovered on Monday last week in front of the Moulay Baghdad cemetery in the city of Zeghanghane in the Nador province.

Local authorities in Nador arrested the two people for “their alleged involvement in a case of luring a minor girl, not assisting someone in danger, and the concealment of the corpse of the victim,” according to a statement from the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN).

According to the authority’s investigation, the individuals aged 22 and 23, took the victim to a discreet location where they allegedly raped her before “she was seized with a discomfort which caused her death in the same place,” the DGSN said.

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Her body was then left in front of the gate of the cemetery and was discovered the following day.

The detained individuals were arrested and detained in police custody after their DNA was discovered on the victim after an autopsy was carried out. A third individual is wanted by police in connection with the rape and the victim’s death.

The disturbing case comes only a week after a mentally ill girl was sexually assaulted on a public bus by a group of teenagers, sparking anger in the country and provoking protests calling for tougher sentences against assailants and greater protection for women in shared spaces.

Six teenagers aged between 15 and 17 were arrested in connection with the crime but have not been charged yet.

Last week a married couple set themselves alight in protest of the release of a man who allegedly raped their 12-year-old daughter in Marrakech.

Human rights sources from the scene said the husband and wife were shocked at the release of the man on the grounds that he was reportedly mentally ill and in need of treatment.

In the same city yesterday, an alleged rapist was arrested after the victim filed a complaint at the police headquarters.

The incident took place last week whilst the victim was in a taxi when the taxi driver drove to a remote location near a high-rise neighbourhood in the Menara district before raping her whilst threatening her with a knife.