Puntland court tries seven men for rape, murder

A Puntland court has begun hearing the arguments in a case whereby seven men are accused of brutally raping and murdering a local woman in Garowe last year.

Hodon Shanlayste was killed in her home last year after being brutally raped. Investigators believe that she was suffocated with a plastic bag.

Security forces were able to track down and arrest seven suspects.

The case was delayed several times in recent months due to the COVID-19 epidemic and scheduling conflicts between the defence and the prosecutors.

The attack bears striking similarities so a similar case in February 2019 year when 12-year-old Aisha Ilyas Aden was raped and murdered by two men. The young girl was kidnapped near her home in Galkayo before being sexually assaulted and killed by her abductors.

Two men, Abdifatah Abdirahman Warsame, 24, and Abdishakur Mohamed Dige, 46, were charged and convicted for the murder and rape. The pair were executed by firing squad in Bosaso earlier this year.

The court adjourned the hearing and will reconvene once the defendants’ attorneys prepare their documents.