CAIRO: An Egyptian criminal court in Ismailia on Sunday ruled in the rape case of a mentally challenged 12-year-old girl. The court handed down sentences of three and two years for the two accused of the crime. Rights groups involved in the case were shocked at the ruling. The court ordered police to hunt down the rest of those involved in the case so they could be “brought to justice.” It was reported that the young girl had identified the two men in the court at an earlier session. The defense on the case was an assembly of different right groups such as Al Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Violent Crimes, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, New Woman Foundation, Nazra Center for Feminism Studies and the Cairo Center for Development. The court summoned the police officer who was in charge of the case, an official informant and the medical examiner who had examined the child. The case dates back to last June when the Hisham Mubarak Law Center received a complaint from the girl's parents that the child had disappeared and that police officers were not investigating the case. The parents were stunned to have received a phone call from a police informant who they met to see explicit pictures of their missing daughter. According to the parents, the informant refused to tell them how he got the pictures and rejected reporting the newly found evidence to the police. When the parents revisited the police station, they were faced with anger and thrown out of the station. The parents, after the incident, sought the help of the rights' center. According to reports, the girl was kidnapped walking back to her residence following a family visit to her aunt. Later that night and after the father left to search for her, eye witnesses told the parents that they saw her walking her daily route earlier that day. The father headed to the police station to file a missing persons report, but was told that he had to wait 48 hours before doing so, even after he told them that his daughter is mentally disabled and that her disappearance could mean that her life is in danger. The girl was kidnapped earlier that day by two men under the threat of knives and was taken to a vacant apartment, and according to one report, another 16 of their friends raped her for the next 18 days. After the law center became involved, the case was brought to the general attorney's office where they demanded a new investigation. During the investigation, the informant was brought into the inquiry and one of the two men was arrested. The informant is yet to be charged with any accusation despite the pleas of rights groups. The defense team made it clear that they were against the death penalty despite the fact that some of the charges against the two men could have landed them the maximum penalty according to the Egyptian Constitution. BM
