BEIRUT: The death of a 6-year-old girl believed to have been the victim of a brutal rape has sparked outrage in Lebanon, with her grandfather accused of carrying out the attack.
It is alleged the victim, Lynn Taleb, suffered internal bleeding leading to her death eight days after she stayed with her mother at her grandfather’s house in Al-Minieh, north Lebanon.
North Lebanon Prosecutor Mathilda Touma filed a complaint against Taleb’s grandfather on suspicion that he raped his granddaughter, and against her mother for covering up the attack.
The case has shocked the Lebanese public and sparked widespread anger.
The child’s father, who lives in Akkar, took custody of his daughter after he and the child’s mother, Waad Bou Khalil, divorced several months ago.
The daughter was staying with her mother during the Eid Al-Adha holiday when the attack is alleged to have taken place. She died on July 1.
Her mother said that a doctor examined the girl and prescribed drugs as she was suffering from a high temperature.
However, the doctor did not examine the victim’s whole body. The mother refused to keep her daughter at the medical center and took her home. She died the same night.
The girl’s mother published pictures of her daughter on social media, with her face showing extreme terror and fear.
On further examination, it appeared that the girl had been repeatedly raped.
The mother’s family tried to accuse the girl’s father and his family. They issued a statement denying the accusation.
According to a judicial source, judge Touma queried the mother’s conflicting statements and detained her for questioning.
Samples were collected from the detainees, including the victim’s father and family members, for DNA testing.
The victim’s father was later released.
Investigators who went through the mother’s phone believed she was in dispute with her father, Fawaz Abou Khalil.
After being questioned, Khalil was arrested and the case referred to North Lebanon First Investigating Judge Samaranda Nassar.
There are no official figures on rape in Lebanon as most incidents still go unreported.
The 6-year-old girl’s death comes amid a rise in violence against children in recent weeks.
A baby was found abandoned in a trash bag being carried by a stray dog, and a day later two newborns were discovered in a box under the Nahr Ibrahim bridge in north Lebanon.
Domestic violence directed against women in front of their children has also been on the rise.
Sociologist Mamoun Tarabay told Arab News: “The increase in violence in general and turning vulnerable children into scapegoats due to the circumstances of adults show that we are facing severe crises that are translated into violence.”
Tarabay said he believed the victim’s mother was in a “difficult situation,” but should have “chosen to protect her daughter instead of remaining silent.”
Child protection laws in Lebanon are “good and refined, similar to those in Western countries,” Tarabay said. “But the problem lies in the application of these laws and the punishment.”
He blamed “the collapse of informal norms and rules” for much of the problem, adding: “Prostitution has become a kind of business, and drug trafficking is now seen as a sign of cunningness and a source of income.”
Quoting sociologist Maurice Cusson’s book “Why We Punish,” Tarabay said: “As long as we don’t punish people, there won’t be any justice and safety in Lebanon.”
