Four-year-old girl’s rape case hits Iraqi capital, suspects arrested
Shafaq News- Baghdad
A four-year-old girl died after being raped and thrown into a sewage water basin in eastern Baghdad, Iraqi police sources revealed to Shafaq News on Wednesday.
The incident occurred three days ago in the al-Dasim area on the al-Rusafa side of the capital. According to preliminary investigations, the assailants had abducted a 15-year-old girl who was accompanying the child. The teenager was severely beaten during an attempted rape but managed to escape, while the suspects kept the younger child in their custody and subjected her to “criminal acts.”
The girl was later found alive and transferred for treatment, but she died on Wednesday from severe injuries sustained across different parts of her body.
Security forces subsequently arrested three suspects linked to the crime, with the preliminary investigation indicating the suspects were likely under the influence of narcotics at the time of the assault, pending final forensic findings.
The Iraqi Penal Code (No. 111 of 1969) prescribes severe punishments for crimes such as child rape (punishable by death) and severe physical assault (leading to over three years in prison).
In 2023, Basra’s Criminal Court sentenced a man to death for luring, raping, and killing a minor before dumping her body in a waste site. The same year, al-Rusafa Criminal Court issued a death sentence against a convicted offender for abducting and raping two girls in Baghdad, while the Saladin Criminal Court sentenced another man to 15 years in prison for raping a child.
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.
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.
Read more: Child abuse in Iraq: a cry for justice and systemic change
