ALGIERS, Oct 10 (NNN-AFRICANEWS) — The rape and murder in Algeria of a 19-year-old woman sparked cries for action on gender-based violence in the North African country and calls to bring back capital punishment.
The body of the young woman, identified as Chaima, was found in early October at a deserted petrol station in Thenia, 80 kilometres east of the capital Algiers.
She had been beaten, raped and burned alive, local media reported.
The suspect, who has reportedly confessed, is being charged with “rape and voluntary homicide with premeditation and ambush, using torture”.
Chaima’s mother said the man was an acquaintance of the family, against whom the young woman had previously pressed rape charges in 2016.
The killing set off a wave of outrage on social media in Algeria, where internet users condemned the “heinous” crime and demanded justice, with many calling for the death penalty, frozen in the country since 1993.
To “break the silence”, several feminist collectives across the country held demonstrations against femicide, the gender-related killing of women and girls.
In Algiers, the Algerian Women for Change Toward Equality group organised a rally to “denounce the heinous crimes” that led to Chaima’s death and those of the 38 women killed this year.
“We are angry for our murdered sisters” and “those who stay silent are just as responsible”, shouted some 100 protesters who had gathered in central Algiers before being dispersed by the police.
In the northwestern city of Oran, protests were quickly shut down by the police.
Around 20 people were arrested, including the activist Kaddour Chouicha, the president of the Oran chapter of the Human Rights League, said prisoners’ rights group CNLD. — NNN-AFRICANEWS