Puntland’s regional court of Nugal on Monday sentenced a man to 20 years imprisonment for raping at knifepoint a young female herder in September.
Mohamed Jiite was convicted of three rape charges, which the court said he committed during the past six months.
Nugal regional court prosecutor, Abdi Farah, said Jiite was found guilty of abducting and raping 16-year old Safia on 2 September 2014, in his most recent attack on a woman.
Jiite pleaded guilty to all three rape charges against him.
The court heard that Jiite abducted Safia from Sarmayo village in Sool region, and held her captive in parts of Eyl district for two weeks.
After the sentencing, Safia gave an account of what had happened to Radio Ergo.
“I was looking after our animals when he found me in a lonely place on the outskirts of Sarmayo village. He greeted me and asked if I had seen some missing camels. I told him that I had not seen any camels. He later asked for some water, which I gave him. After drinking my water, he removed a knife and abducted me at knife-point,” she said.
“He then forcibly took me to Eyl district in Nugal region where he kept me in a secret place for 14 days, repeatedly raping and assaulting me.”
Safia was later rescued by local people in the area, who handed her over to the police station. Jiite managed to escape but was later arrested on a tip off from a young woman, whom he had attempted to rape earlier in July.
Safia’s family told Radio Ergo they thought their daughter had been abducted by human traffickers, and never imagined she was suffering in the hands of a local rapist.
Puntland’s minister for women’s affairs, Anisa Hajji Mu’min, applauded the jail sentence imposed on the rapist.
Anisa said her ministry recorded 11 rape cases in Puntland in the last eight months. Three of the cases were committed by Jiite.
But not all women were satisfied with the sentence. Women’s organizations and the girl’s relatives said they were not happy with the way the judiciary had handled the case. They said the rapist deserved a heavier punishment.
