ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A man in Duhok has confessed to the kidnap, attempted rape, and killing of a 10-year-old girl abducted on June 5. The case has reignited the Region's death penalty debate.
Dlin Ahmed had gone out with her younger brother and a cousin to visit relatives and neighbors during the Eid holiday, according to her father, Walid Ahmed.
On their way home, at around 5pm, her brother and cousin became preoccupied with a bird they had found near Medya school. Soon after, the two boys realized that Dlin had disappeared.
The family and police searched for three days before locating the girl’s body on June 8 in an orchard in Duhok. Police said they detained multiple suspects and one confessed to the crime.
Duhok police have not yet released the identity of the suspect but said he was an acquaintance of the family, and that Dlin had met him multiple times with her father.
According to Major General Tariq Ahmed, director of the Duhok police, the girl began screaming when the perpetrator attempted to rape her. The killer then used two tree branches to stab the girl in the neck.
Police said that a doctor from the forensic department confirmed that Dlin had been killed by an object that “wasn’t too sharp, like a tree”. The forensics department of Duhok has yet to release its report.
According to police, the suspect was born in 1972, lived in Duhok, had a previous criminal record, and has served a sentence for attempted murder in 2005.
Major General Ahmed said the police are “unaware” whether the man has psychological issues, but added: “After pulling up his records, he did a lot of inappropriate things in the area.”
The crime has sparked outrage among locals, with officials and residents demanding swift justice.
"We join our voice with that of the people, asking the authorities that the [punishment] of such people should be death," Ahmed added.
"This innocent, beautiful child called Dlin from Duhok was unfairly killed, and thanks to Allah, the killers were arrested. The death sentence has to be implemented instantly," Arafat Karam, a former KDP MP in the Iraqi parliament, said in a tweet on Saturday.
"The punishment of the criminals should be a swift execution, not a jail sentence for them to spend life in a five-star reformatory prison," Sayran Salah, head of Asteray Mnalan, a children right's organization, said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
"The government has to do something. If it doesn't, then we want our right [to exact justice]. We won't have a funeral service as long as these criminals are not taken care of,” Khalid Ahmed, the uncle of Dlin, told Rudaw.
"If such people are not executed, then the likes of them will increase," said Sawen-a Baban, in a post on Rudaw’s Facebook page.
The case is reminiscent of another homicide case in Duhok, when a 22-year old man kidnapped and killed an 18-month-old infant in June 2016. The girl’s body was found 10 days later.
Following public pressure, the man was executed.
The Kurdistan Region's president has full jurisdiction over whether or not an execution sentence is carried out.
The Kurdistan Region has avoided the implementation of death sentences, although many have been handed down.
It isn't clear if President-elect Nechirvan Barzani, whose swearing-in ceremony is set for Monday, will respond to public pressure and order the execution.
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