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Rabat – Thousands of Moroccan citizens are signing a petition to condemn the light prison sentences handed to three defendants involved in raping a 11-year-old girl in Tiflet, a town in northwestern Morocco.
Moroccan author Yassmine Chami launched the petition, describing the sentence as a “despicable” judgment.
“Outraged by the despicable judgment, which sentences criminals who raped one of our eleven-year-old children to only two years in prison,” the petition reads.
The appeal recalled that the raped victim became a mother at only twelve years of age after being subject to repeated sexual assault and rape.
The petition also called for the reopening of the trial to revise the sentence handed against the perpetrators, as well as an observatory or independent mechanism to report all shortcomings reported during trials related to violence against women and children.
The petition echoes outrage and mounting concerns about the light sentence handed by the criminal division of the Appeals Court in Rabat, which sentenced three men involved in repeated rape against a minor to two years in prison on March 20.
The petition generated over 11,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Citizens, activists, and associations denounced the light sentence, describing it as “unfair.”
“This is an unfair verdict for the victim,” Moroccan association Jossour Forum for Moroccan Women said.
Last week, sociologist and university professor Soumaya Naamane Guessour addressed an open letter to Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi to denounce the “unbearable lightness of the sentence.”
The sociologist also condemned the court’s “incomprehensible normalization” of a culture of rape and impunity.
Ouahbi commented on the verdict, saying he was “shocked.”
“The rape case of the child struck us all, and made us question, as a society, which measures should we reinforce and implement, on a legislative, intellectual, and educational level, to protect children from rape,” Ouahbi was quoted as saying in local media.
Despite the criticism and uproar, the court has not issued any statement or decision to revise the verdict.
Moroccan association Spring of Dignity announced a sit-in on Wednesday, April 5 in front of the Rabat Court of Appeals to condemn the light sentence.
