A dozen men have been arrested in Morocco over the alleged rape, kidnapping and torture of a 17-year-old girl who claims to have been held against her will during a two-month ordeal that has sent shockwaves across the kingdom.
The case has reignited a fresh debate over women’s rights in Morocco, where sexual abuse is well-documented despite laws recently passed to combat gender-based violence and harassment.
The girl – identified only in media reports as Khadija – alleges she was abducted from outside a relative’s house in central Morocco during the month of Ramadan, then starved, drugged, burned with cigarettes and tattooed with swastikas by as many as 15 men, three of whom appear to still be at large.
“It was terrible,” Khadija told Morocco’s Chouf TV. “They held me for about two months and raped and tortured me. I will never forgive them. They have destroyed me.”
Khadija claims that two men initially kidnapped and raped her at knifepoint, then held her hostage in a house where other men “would assault me one by one” in exchange for money or drugs. She alleges to have been denied food, water and the right to shower, and tried escaping many times but was repeatedly caught and beaten.
“I cried but no one cared – they have no compassion,” Khadija said. “I want justice to be done and [for them] to pay for what they have done to me. How many women [are there] who, out of fear of this hchouma [shame], continue to keep quiet?”
Khadija’s mother says she was “caught off guard” when her daughter was finally brought home. “I fainted,” she told the Associated Press. “I collapsed.”
Women’s rights are a controversial subject in this highly patriarchal society. A recent UN Women report (pdf) found that 62% of men believe women should tolerate violence in order to keep the family together. Sexual harassment is rife, sex outside marriage is illegal and rape victims are largely blamed and shamed. In February, the kingdom adopted a law criminalising some forms of gender-based violence, but critics claim it doesn’t go far enough, failing to define domestic violence or even outlaw marital rape.
Amid fury across social media calling for “justice for Khadija”, and a petition to reinstate Khadija’s dignity (signed by more than 71,000 people), parents of two of the suspects have given interviews to local media, claiming the girl had a “bad reputation” and “wanted this”.
A judge-led investigation has begun in Beni Mellal, central Morocco, and the trial is expected to start next week. Twelve men aged 18 to 27 have been arrested so far, with the main suspect, 20, facing charges of rape, kidnap, torture, making death threats and forming a gang, according to AFP.
