Thursday September 3, 2020
GAROWE (HOL) - Six men accused of rape and murder of a woman in Garowe were Thursday set free by a court after the prosecution failed to prove them responsible for the criminal acts.
The court sitting in Garowe said the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence to nail down the six suspects.
The victim, Hodan Shanlayste was brutally raped and murdered in Garowe last year. The prosecution said the woman was suffocated with a plastic bag.“I find that the circumstantial evidence relied upon by the prosecution was insufficient to establish that the rape and murder of Hodan Shanleyste was perpetrated by these six accused persons,” the judge said. “I will, as the law requires, give a benefit of considerable doubt established by the facts in the counsel's submissions.”
Two men were early this year executed in Puntland for the rape and murder of a 12-year girl identified as Aisha Aden.
A third convict was sparred following negotiations between his family and that of Aden under a ‘blood money’ settlement deal practiced among Somalis.