MOROCCO: DEATH PENALTY UPHELD FOR RAPIST, KILLER OF 11-YEAR-OLD ADNANE BOUCHOUF

April 8, 2021:

The Tangier Court of Appeal upheld on 7 April 2021 the death penalty sentence against a 24-year-old man, who kidnapped, raped, and killed Adnane Bouchouf, an 11-year-old boy in September 2020.
The court also upheld sentences against three other suspects, the flatmates of the main perpetrator. The three individuals received four months in prison each for not reporting the crime.
The perpetrator appealed the sentence despite the evidence, showing him involved in the killing and raping of the 11-year-old boy.
The case dates back to September 2020, when the perpetrator kidnapped Adnane Bouchouf and forced him to enter his house, where he raped him.
Adnane Bouchouf disappeared on 7 September. His family, neighbors, and security services were attempting to find him by dispatching flyers and sharing his photos online.
Moroccan citizens reacted strongly to his disappearance and shared his photos all over social networks in vain.
The defendant noticed the alert and rushed to a barber in the neighborhood to change his look.
However, a street camera footage showed a young man talking to Adnane Bouchouf before walking away with him.
The perpetrator denied he raped the little boy and claimed that Adnane fell from the stairs, which led to his death.
The court, however, ruled that the perpetrator raped and killed Adnane Bouchouf.
Security services found his body buried in a garden close to where the victim lived.
The crime caused uproar in Morocco, with NGOs calling for severe punishment for the main suspect.