YET AGAIN: Shock as five-year-old baby is raped in Mogadishu
A five-year-old baby girl has been raped in Mogadishu in yet another bizarre incident of sharply rising cases of rape and sodomy in the country.
Barely a week after a ten-year-old boy was sodomised and 19-year-old teenager allegedly gang-raped in a hotel room in separate incidents in Mogadishu, the city is waking up to yet another case this time around involving a five-year-old baby.
The family of the victim told the media that their baby was raped by a neighbour who fled the scene when the cries of the baby were heard in the next door. The incident happened in Fanole village in Kaaran district, north of Mogadishu.
Doctors at Digfer Hospital confirmed the toddler was raped.
On the 12th of this month, a 10-year-old boy was allegedly sodomised by men in military uniforms in Djibouti village of Shangani district in Mogadishu. This happened a day after 19 year old Hamdi Mohamed was reportedly gang-raped in a hotel room in Waberi district.
In mid-August, a ten-year-old boy and a madrassa teacher were separately sodomised in Baidoa, South West. The Quran teacher subsequently died. Two suspects reportedly involved in similar acts in the past were executed by the local government there on August 18.
The increasing cases of sexual violations come amid lengthy delays by the Federal Parliament to pass a law criminalizing such acts. The Sexual Offenses Bill was tabled by Cabinet in the Lower House in May 2018. However, in July, a section of lawmakers sponsored a parallel Bill which has been roundly condemned as it seeks to legalise child marriages.