Gang Rape of a Minor Shocks Tunisians.. Calls for the Death Penalty

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The crime of gang rape of a minor girl aged 15, who was lured from her family's home, has shocked Tunisian society due to its brutality and savagery, as she ended up in the intensive care unit in critical health condition.

This crime began on Saturday in the Malsin area on the outskirts of the capital, Tunis, where the girl was called by her friend to go out for a walk, only to find herself in the clutches of several individuals inside a house who assaulted and abused her under the influence of drugs.

They then threw her into the street in critical health condition, which necessitated her transfer to the hospital and admission to the intensive care unit.

Meanwhile, Tunisians were shaken by this heinous crime, which has dominated social media discussions over the past two days. Most comments leaned towards the necessity of reinstating the death penalty, sounding the alarm about the rise of violence in society, and protecting children and youth from the scourge of drugs.

The journalist Monia Al-Arfaoui, in a comment on Facebook yesterday, Monday, considered that the case reflects the growing manifestations of violence in society, calling for a search for the deep-rooted causes behind these phenomena, rather than limiting responses to penalties after crimes occur.

For his part, Dr. Rafiq Boujdraia, in a post he published on social media, linked some manifestations of crime among certain youth groups to unemployment, dropping out of education, and drug use. He called for preventive and therapeutic measures alongside penalties, including combating drugs and providing alternative educational pathways and support programs after penalties are implemented.

Meanwhile, lawyer Hicham Khadraoui considered that crime is not an isolated incident but rather a societal shock that necessitates deep social and legislative reviews and monitoring of deviant psychological and behavioral indicators. He emphasized that 'the character of these deviants is not a product of coincidence but rather a result of psychological dysfunction among the perpetrators of the crime, fed by a deviant social environment.'

MP Majdoline Warghi also commented on the case, calling in a post on Facebook for more monitoring of children and strengthening the role of the family in protecting children, while expressing a strict stance regarding penalties related to rape crimes.

The case thus reopened the discussion in Tunisia about protecting children from grooming, exploitation, and sexual violence, and about the effectiveness of punitive and preventive approaches in reducing these crimes, at a time when calls are also rising to address the social factors that may contribute to the spread of violence and crime.