Four Iraqi police face action in sexual assault case

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's Interior Ministry on Saturday ordered urgent legal action against a police officer and three police personnel over an alleged sexual assault of a female detainee inside a police station in Al-Diwaniyah.

The ministry referred the suspects to the relevant investigative and judicial authorities and ordered the maximum legal and administrative measures against anyone found responsible, stressing that such acts violate the law and "do not represent the principles of the Interior Ministry or the ethics of the police.”

Earlier today, a security source told Shafaq News that an investigation judge in Al-Diwaniyah ordered the detention of the officer and the three personnel after the detainee told investigators that they had sexually assaulted her inside Al-Nahda Police Station.

The case follows a similar incident in Najaf in September 2025, when a woman was sexually assaulted by a police officer and two members of his unit. The Interior Ministry later dismissed the two contract policemen involved, while the patrol commander was reassigned to a border post.

According to Iraq’s Forensic Medicine Department, 421 sexual assault cases were documented nationwide during the first half of 2024, including 327 female victims and 94 male victims. Rights groups warn the real number is likely higher because many assaults go unreported due to social stigma and fear of retaliation.

Read more: Constitutional quotas offer Iraqi women no shield against domestic abuse

In 2026, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council began preparing guidelines for documenting sexual assault crimes in coordination with the Health Ministry’s Forensic Medicine Department and Physicians for Human Rights.

This report was followed by an updated story.