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Rabat – Moroccan police have arrested a 70-year-old man for his involvement in kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old person with disabilities.
The suspect kidnapped the 19-year-old person suffering from a mental disability before sexually assaulting him in the Mehdia forest near Kenitra, said in a statement the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) on Wednesday.
Police arrested the suspect at the scene of the crime.
Security services put the suspect in custody for further investigation to determine the circumstances of the case.
Article 486 of Morocco’s penal code defines rape as an “act by which a man has sex with a woman against her will.”
The perpetrator receives sentences ranging between five to 10 years.
If rape is committed against a minor under the age of eighteen, an incapable person, a person with disabilities, a person with mental illness, or a pregnant woman, the perpetrator faces sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years in prison.
Recent weeks have been intense in Morocco after several arrests of sexual assault suspects.
One of the cases that sparked national outrage was that of Adnane Bouchouf. On September 11, police found the remains of the 11-year-old boy buried in a garden not far from where he lived in Tangier.
A 24-year-old man kidnapped the boy, raped him, and killed him before burying the victim’s body.
Moroccan police arrested the suspect, who is now facing charges of kidnapping, rape, and murder.
Moroccan police arrested three other suspects for pedophilia, attempted rape, and kidnapping, and sexual assaults against minors within days of the arrest of Adnane’s killer.
Last week, police arrested another suspect in Tangier for his attempt to lure and kidnap an 11-year-old boy.
Preliminary investigation shows that the man set up a meeting with the boy through Facebook. The boy’s father coordinated with police to arrest the suspect, who was waiting for his victim in a garden.
The man was carrying toys that he wanted to use to lure the boy.
With the increase of the number of pedophilia cases, some Moroccans have asked for the death penalty for the murderer of Adnane to set an example for others trying to the same.
Other activists, however, argue that the death penalty is not a solution to stopping crime.
