Mogadishu (SD)- Somali National Army soldier Mohamed Hussein Elmi was arrested and investigated for raping four-year-old victim Farhiya Abdi Shakur Botan on May 14 this year in Wadajir district.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the Armed Forces has filed a complaint with the Court of the Armed Forces, were at that time, his confession was recorded.

Mohamed Hussein Elmi was scheduled to be arraigned by the Military Court in early September, and the court’s final hearing were concluded on the 24th of this month.

During the trial of Mohamed Hussein Elmi, the investigator of the case was heard, and shared the victim impact statement with the Court, the defendant, who was given an opportunity to address the court, reiterated that he was taking responsibility for the incident but could not answer why he had raped the girl next door.

Mumin Hussein Abdullahi, the Deputy Attorney General of the Armed Forces, asked the court to send a message in its ruling that no further act of rape should be considered by any member of the Armed Forces.

Defendants’ attorneys argued that the defendant’s confession should not be held against him, instead requested that the Court grant them an opportunity to deal with the victim’s relatives.

Colonel Hassan Ali Nur Shuute, chairman of the Court of First Instance of the Armed Forces sentenced to Mohamed Hussein Elmi to death after an extensive consultations and court hearings as he shared with the parties in the case.

The convicted rapist Mohamed Hussein Elmi has the opportunity to appeal today’s court decision.