Out of 7 suspects, 5 arrested for the 'collective, continuous rape’ of minor near Marrakech

Five of the seven defendants in a case of child rape in the Sid Zouin rural community of Marrakech were brought before the Public Prosecution Office of the Court of Appeal today, Monday, August 28.

Five of the seven perpetrators of the collective rape of a 15-year-old were apprehended last Friday, while the other two are still on the run.

One of the victim’s neighbors witnessed the occurrence of luring the child and reported it to the security officials, who responded to the scene right away.

The initial inquiry concluded that the offenders regularly raped the minor in groups. The accused were in their forties and fifties.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights’ Manara-Marrakech Branch President, Omar Arbib, called for “maximum penalties,” stating that “the association will stand up as a civil party in the case so that the perpetrators receive the punishment they deserve.”

“The abundance of pedophilia cases in recent times calls for a special and rebuking approach that does not leave any margin for crimes that threaten childhood in Morocco,” said Arbib to Hespress.

There is suspicion that the seven individuals purchased a private home for their heinous behaviors in the Sidi Zouin region, according to the data collected up to this point.

According to Moroccan law, rapists must serve at least five years in prison; if the victim is a minor, the sentence is increased to ten years. If the offender is found guilty of molestation or attempted molestation of a boy or girl, the sentence is between two and five years in prison; this sentence is doubled when the indecent assault is coupled with violence, and the offender must serve ten to twenty years.

Hespress tried to communicate with the family of the victim, but “the psychological state of the family does not allow communication with the media at the present time.”