NEW YORK: The UNICEF has strongly condemned the stoning to death of a 13-year-old Somali girl, describing it as a "tragic and deplorable incident".
"A child was victimised twice first by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible for administering justice," said Christian Balslev-Olesen, UNICEF Representative for Somalia.
"This is a tragic and deplorable incident."
Aisha Duhulow was stoned to death last week in a stadium full of spectators in the southern port city of Kismayo on October 27, after authorities found her guilty of adultery.
But reports indicate that she had been raped by three men while walking to visit her grandmother in the capital Mogadishu. After the attack, Aisha asked for protection from prosecutors, who in turn accused her of adultery and sentenced her to death.
According to media reports, Aisha pleaded for her life before she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck and then pelted with stones by some 50 men until she died in front of more than 1,000 people.
UNICEF said that this incident underscores the vulnerability of girls and women in the war-wracked Horn of Africa nation, where it says sexual and gender-based violence is commonplace and gender inequalities persist in access to essential services.
"Authorities and institutions of civil society have a role to play in supporting and protecting the rights of every child," Balslev-Olesen said, noting that this killing reflects the great effort that must be undertaken to protect the rights of Somali girls and women.
