A million angry campaigners
have signed a petition demanding justice after three men accused of brutally
gang-raping a Kenyan school girl were ordered to cut grass as punishment.
The brutal attack on the girl
and lack of action towards those who carried it out has sparked
outrage in the country. The girl is now on wheelchairs with a broken back, and
this was caused either by the beating or by being hurled down into the pit, she
also suffered serious internal injuries from the rape.
The 16-year old girl was
reportedly attacked, beaten and then raped by six men as she returned from her
grandfather's funeral in western Kenya in June, before the gang dumped her,
bleeding and unconscious, in a deep sewage ditch.
On Monday, the number of those
who signed online petitions started by a Kenyan woman, Nebila Abdulmelik, and publicized
by the campaign group Avaaz topped a million, and was continuing to grow.
"Letting rapists walk free
after making them cut grass has to be the world's worst punishment for
rape," Abdulmelik said. "It's an absolute failure of the entire
system and an absolutely shameful response by Kenya's police."
The victim knew some of the
attackers, and three of them were taken by villagers to the local police
station, the girl's mother earlier told Kenyan media.
"The three were only ordered
to cut grass around the police camp and set free shortly after," the
girl's mother told the paper.
"My wish is to see justice
done," the girl told The Nation newspaper, which first reported the story,
and has led a campaign including raising funds to cover medical costs. "I
want my attackers arrested and punished."
Lawmakers
have condemned the attack and subsequent police failures, ordering action to be
taken.
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