Outrage as two girls aged three and four are gang-raped in Somalia

Two cousins – three and four years – were abducted and raped in Somalia, sparking public outrage. The government in Somalia has condemned the nefarious act, which has put the lives of the girls in serious health situation.

According to health officials, the two girls need major surgery as a result of injuries they sustained during the rape.

The two girls were on their way home from school in Afgoye, close to the capital, Mogadishu before they were attacked. The parents said they had been searching for them only to discover them seriously injured the following day.

It turned out they were abducted and sexually assaulted by some unknown men. The victims have been hospitalized and, according to Mohamed Yusuf Mohamed, the doctor in charge of the hospital where they are being treated, “their conditions remain critical”.

“They were brutally gang-raped but we are doing everything to save their lives. I have never witnessed such an ordeal, it’s simply unimaginable,” the doctor said.

Their mother is seeking for help from well-meaning Somalians to get the best form of care for the girls, while their father is urging the government to bring the rapists to book.

In Somalia, reports of rape have increased in recent years. While there is an outrage over the case in the country and many calling for justice, the government has condemned the abduction and rape of the under-aged girls. Several arrests had reportedly been made following the attack.

In Somalia, rape is stigmatized and victims are traditionally forced to marry culprits and as a result, victims and their families are afraid to come forward to publicly confront perpetrators.

According to Somali women rights activists, most rape cases go unreported and unpunished. The first time the country tested its new sexual violence statute was in 2017 when some young girls were gang-raped and stabbed.

A 2017 report of Amnesty International affirms that rape and other forms of sexual violence are widespread in both the major cities and rural areas in Somalia.