Morocco shaken by tortured teen’s harrowing account

RABAT ( Morocco): A lawyer for a 17-year-old Moroccan girl who told police she was gang-raped, forcibly tattooed and held against her will for two months, says authorities have arrested 12 suspects in a case that’s sparking fresh public outcry over women’s rights and sexual abuse in the North African kingdom.

Ibrahim Hashane, a member of a group of volunteer lawyers who are pressing her case, said an examining judge has ordered investigations into allegations of kidnapping, rape and abuse.

He said that among the 15 people suspected in the case, 12 are in custody and three are still on the run. He added that the judge has scheduled a first hearing in the case for next week.

In an online video interview with Morocco’s Chouf TV posted last week, the girl alleged that her kidnappers “would assault me one by one”, burned her and didn’t feed her or let her shower. She appeared to have scars from cigarette burns on her hands.

“They tattooed my arms, I don’t remember the day they tattooed me cause when I woke up in the morning I found that my arms were swollen and they hurt me,” said the girl, who was identified by local media only as Khadija.

The girl alleged that two men kidnapped her at knife-point when she was visiting her aunt during the May-June holy month of Ramadan, before selling her to other men in exchange for money or drugs. She said her captors gave her drugs that knocked her out for days at a time.

The case has dominated Moroccan news media for days, and more than 27,000 people have signed an online petition voicing indignation.

Lawyers, activists and her parents are now raising funds to press her case and for medical treatment.

Abdelwahed Saadi, a social worker and neighbour of the girl’s family, said her father reported her missing but authorities did not launch an investigation.

“They are simple people. The father is sick and couldn’t do much to help free his daughter. Where we live is a crime and drug hotspot. No one can do much when houses are assaulted, people robbed in the light of day, drugs are used up and crime is committed,” he said in a telephone interview.

“She is first and foremost a victim of a dysfunctional environment. So are the attackers.”

The teenager said she attempted to flee from her abusers several times but in vain.

Eventually, she said her father managed to speak by phone to one of the alleged kidnappers and convinced him to free her by saying he wouldn’t file a police complaint. Once freed, however, the girl notified authorities herself. — AP