Morocco court gives longer jail terms for men guilty of child rape

The jail terms given to three men who were found guilty of “indecent assault” for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl in a case that generated popular outcry in Morocco have been dramatically enhanced.

Early on Friday, the appeals court in Rabat condemned two men to ten years in prison and one to twenty.

After a lower court sentenced one of the girl’s three alleged attackers to two years in prison and the others to 18 months each, the girl’s attorneys, who represent the now 12-year-old, filed an appeal.

Each of the three could have spent up to 30 years in prison.

The three men were required to pay damages totaling 140,000 dirhams (almost $14,000) by the appeals court as opposed to the lower court’s order of 50,000 dirhams.

“We are satisfied with the decision which delivered justice to the victim,” lawyer Abdelfattah Zahrach told AFP after the marathon hearing.

“That said, we do not understand why two of the accused have been only sentenced to 10 years,” he said, adding that he was considering a further appeal to the Court of Cassation “after consulting the child’s family”.

The prosecution had sought that the court hear the victim’s and a witness’s testimony in secret, citing concerns about child protection.

The hearing on Thursday was well-attended and continued into the early hours of Friday.

The victim was accompanied by her grandmother and father, and she appeared weak and was mute.

The defendants were charged with “misappropriation of a minor” and “indecent assault on a minor with violence,” the same offenses as were brought up in the initial trial.

The judge denied the prosecution’s plea to amend the charges to include “rape.”

After the evidence was given, the defendants sat in the dock with their heads hanging low.

A DNA test that established the man in question is the father of the girl’s now 13-month-old kid was presented to him.

He constantly replied, “I don’t know,” when asked how this came about.

The case has sparked controversy in the nation of North Africa, and a petition denouncing the penalties from March 20 has gathered tens of thousands of signatures.

The Jossour Forum of Moroccan Women stated in a statement last month that the girl, who is from a village close to Rabat, was repeatedly raped over several months.

The kid “is starting to grin a little but she is still in shock,” according to Amina Khalid, executive director of INSAF, a women’s rights organization that has followed the girl’s case.

The girl was assisted by INSAF in attending school for the first time.