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WARNING: This article contains distressing details of rape and sexual assault
The brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl has sparked outrage in Ethiopia, with many believing the sentence handed down to the attacker was too lenient.
Last August, Heaven Awot was sexually assaulted, maimed and killed by her mother’s landlord, Getnet Baye, in the northwestern city of Bahir Dar in the Amhara region.
Gatnet was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Gatnet recently appealed the case, which has attracted widespread attention and is currently adjourned to October.
The girl’s mother, Abekyelesh Adeba, told the BBC that she felt “lifeless” after losing her child.
More than 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the sentence to be reviewed “to reflect the seriousness of the crime” and offering support to the grieving mother.
The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), one of Ethiopia’s largest women’s rights advocacy groups, issued a statement saying they considered the sentence “extremely light,” adding that “murder itself is enough to warrant a life sentence or death penalty… It is particularly sickening and outrageous when such a horrific crime is committed against a child.”
Senior government officials also joined the criticism, with Women and Social Affairs Minister Ergogie Tesfaye writing on her Facebook page that the crime committed against Heaven was “inhumane” and saying her office would pursue the case with stakeholders.
The brutal attack has sparked a fierce debate about the safety of vulnerable women and girls in Ethiopia.
According to a report released in May by Human Rights Watch, conflict-related sexual violence has “reached alarming levels in Ethiopia.”
Some believe that a lack of accountability for perpetrators is a factor in the prevalence of such incidents.
Thousands of women and young girls Rape reported during two years of devastating war in Tigraythe northernmost region of the country.
Heaven watched her family be torn apart by that war before she was raped and killed.
Her father, an ethnic Tigrayan, was imprisoned for months at the height of the conflict. He was never charged.
After his release, he left Amhara — where he felt there was still hostility and suspicion toward him — and headed for Tigray.
Haven’s mother, Abekyelesh, is a nurse who raised Haven and her sister alone.
Ms Abekelesh told the BBC that she had a friendly relationship with her landlord, who lived in the same compound as her family, and that she never felt her children were under any threat.
She was related to the landlady, which made her feel more at ease.
Ms Abekyelesh was at work and the girl’s aunt was caring for her when Heaven was attacked.
Her aunt said Heaven told her he was going to the bathroom and never came back. The aunt wanted to know why it took so long to find the girl and said she went looking for her but couldn’t find her. She thought Getnet had taken her.
Later that day, Heaven’s body was found outside her home with obvious signs of strangulation. Heaven’s mother told the BBC she believed the attacker had dumped the body there.
“If our children can’t be safe at home, where else can we go?” she said. “Should we stop working and spend all our time with them? How are we going to feed them?”
In the months that followed, Ms. Abekelesh faced more torment as she mourned her murdered daughter.
She had to go into hiding after attacker Getnet escaped from prison, fearing for her safety and that of her other daughter.
He escaped from the police station in Bahir Dar where he was detained in August last year after local Amhara militia fighting government forces broke into the station and rescued their comrades who were being held there.
Now on the loose, Gatnet searched for Haven’s mother at gunpoint. It was nearly a month before he was arrested again.
She said she felt the security forces were reluctant to detain him and had to beg them to arrest him again. Meanwhile, Getnet had been threatening her.
This made Ms. Abekeleshi feel unsafe, and as a result, she has moved and changed jobs several times since then.
Ms Abekyelesh feels the justice system has failed her. She believes Getnet’s 25-year sentence is not enough.
But she’s more concerned about whether he can win his appeal and get early release.
She told the BBC: “I have lost my paradise… I have lost my life.”
However, as a health care worker, she said she knew of countless women and young girls who had been sexually assaulted.
“I know there are many heavens.”
If you are affected by the issues in this story and need support, you can talk to a health professional or an organisation that offers support.
In the UK, you can get help from: BBC Action LineFor more information on help available in many countries, visit interaction.
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