JEDDAH, 28 October 2006 — Three teenagers, who gang-raped a Saudi girl about three months ago, have each been sentenced to five years in jail by a summary court in Jeddah.
Police arrested the three, aged not more than 17, after the girl gave descriptions of the criminals. The rape took place in a Makkah street as the young men kidnapped the girl and took her to a remote place to commit the crime.
The young men ran away from the spot leaving the girl on the road, bleeding and crying hysterically for help. The girl was later taken to a Makkah hospital where she received treatment. Police arrested the criminals within a short span of time.
The court rejected the plea of relatives for a softer sentence to the teenagers considering their age and insisted on its verdict as the young men carried out the crime after thorough planning.
An informed source told Arab News that the three culprits have been transferred to a Jeddah reformatory to serve their sentences. “This is one of the strangest incidents I have come across,” said Shakir Muhammad Al-Azouri, director of the center, which is under the supervision of the Social Affairs Ministry. There are 220 teenagers in the center, who were jailed for various crimes such as rape, drug abuse and robbery.
