Police arrest man for attempted rape, murder of 10-year-old Kurdish girl
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish police on Sunday announced they have arrested the man responsible for the murder and attempted rape of a 10-year-old girl in the Kurdistan Region’s city of Duhok.
Dilin, a 10-year-old girl, went missing on Wednesday in the neighborhood of Zozan in Duhok on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, while she was playing with her younger brother and a cousin.
After days of police searches, her body was found in a different neighborhood, near Khabat and the Duhok Club building, on Saturday.
Police arrested two brothers as suspects before one of them confessed to the attempted sexual assault and murder of Dilin.
“The person who killed Dilin first tried to rape her, but she fought back and screamed for help. In the altercation, according to the criminal himself, he snapped a nearby piece of wood and struck Dilin on her neck, twice, resulting in her death,” Tariq Ahmed, Director-General of the Duhok Police, told reporters on Sunday during a press conference.
Her family, who was already mourning the passing of Dilin’s grandmother three days before Eid, informed police about Dilin’s disappearance on Wednesday eventing after failing to locate her.
“The suspect [aged 47] confessed that he was a friend of Dilin’s father and lured Dilin away from her neighborhood around 06:00 pm on Wednesday, after convincing her to follow him — a man Dilin was used to referring to as ‘Mam’ [Kurdish for ‘uncle’],” Ahmed recounted. The term is commonly used by children when addressing their elders as a sign of respect.
The man who confessed to the murder was born in 1972 and is from Duhok. In 2005, he had already tried to kill somebody.
“He is imprisoned now, and will face the full of extent of the law,” Ahmed added.
Regarding the arrest of the murderer’s brother, the police official noted they believe he is somehow involved in the crime.
“When the suspect [murderer] returned home, he informed his brother of the crime he had committed,” Ahmed explained. Shockingly, the two men then “visited Dilin’s parents house to take part in the mourning [of Dilin’s grandmother],” adding the brother was being charged with conspiracy to cover up a crime and for remaining silent after being made aware of the murder.
The parents of Dilin, who had just recently experienced loss, are now calling for justice.
“I hope the rights of my daughter will not be lost for such a crime committed against a 10-year-old girl,” the mother decried while speaking to Kurdistan 24 on Saturday.
“I demand nothing but justice for what has happened to my daughter,” Dilin’s father said.
The people of the autonomous Kurdistan Region expressed their sympathy to Dilin’s family after pictures of her and her story quickly spread across social media networks.
Editing by Nadia Riva