Child rapists should face death penalty: Azhar official

CAIRO- 16 April: Child rapists should face death penalty, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar Institute Abbas Shoman said in Saturday statements to Al-Ahram daily news website.

Shoman called on executing anyone found guilty of raping a child as he described such a crime as an “alien to our society and culture…not less dangerous than the bomb attacks.”

He added that “raping children is an act of terrorism that should be punished by death penalty.”

Last month the story of an 18-month-old girl who was raped by a 36-year-old man made headlines in Egypt and calls to execute the defendant echoed in most media reports.
A total of 350 members of Parliament signed a petition to amend articles of the Criminal Act to stipulate harsher punishments to child rapists.

Identified as Ibrahim, the perpetrator admitted he kidnapped the toddler and raped her with his finger, causing her to bleed severely, according to local media reports. The toddler was taken to the hospital where she was rescued, while the man was arrested amid protests demanding him to be sentenced to death for his crime.

Last June, a total of 377 children faced different types of abuse in 225 different cases of violations ranging from kidnapping to rape, according to a report by the Egyptian Foundation for Advancement of Childhood Conditions (EFACC).