There is widespread anger in Ethiopia over the 25-year jail term handed to a landlord who br¥tally r@p£d and m¥rd£red his tenant’s seven-year-old daughter.
Heaven Awot was taking from her home, s3xually a§§aulted, mutil@ted, and k+lled by her mother’s landlord, Getnet Baye, in the northwestern city of Bahir Dar in August 2023.
He was sentenced to only 25 years in prison. However, the case attracted widespread attention after he recently launched an appeal. The case is now adjourned until October, BBC reports.
The case has sparked widespread cond£mnation and demands for justice, and over 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for a review of the sentencing to “reflect the gravity of the crime” and to offer support for Heaven’s mother, Abekyelesh Adeba.
The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) has also denounced the sentencing as “very light,” stating that “the m¥rder by itself should have been enough to sentence him to life imprisonment or to d£@th… It’s specially sickening and outrageous when such a horrendous crime is committed against children.”
Senior government officials, including Minister for Women and Social Affairs Ergogie Tesfaye, have joined the chorus of criticism, describing the crimes against Heaven as “inhumane.”
“If our children can’t be safe in our homes, where else can we go? Should we stop work and spend all our time with them? How can we feed them?” Heaven’s mother lamented, during an interview with BBC.
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