Thursday, March 5, 2009

Egypt rapists to die, court rules

BBC NEWS

Thursday, 5 March 2009

An Egyptian court has confirmed the death sentence imposed on 10 men convicted of raping a teenager.

They were found guilty of raping the 18-year-old newlywed for several hours.

The men, armed with guns, raided the woman's home in 2006, kidnapped her and took her to a rural area where the attack took place.

Handing the death sentence to 10 defendants at once is unprecedented in Egypt, according to the state-run newspaper al-Ahram.

The gang, two of whom are 18 and the rest in their 20s, were sentenced to death by hanging. Another teenager was jailed for 15 years because of his age.

There is a widespread perception in Egypt that violent crime is on the rise, according to the BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi, and this case could confirm for the public that it is spreading.

The presiding judge is reported to have said that the harsh sentence was needed in order to purge society of the defendants' evil.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What about the rich criminals who killed Suzanne Tamim? does the judge see it less of a crime?