TIRANA, Feb. 6 – The group rape of an underage girl in the city of Kavaja caused public upheaval, particularly in the capital, this week.
The Durres Court issued an arrest warrant for eight teenagers on Sunday, but only managed to arrest seven of them, and has declared one wanted.
The court session, which took place behind closed doors, resulted with the prosecution sentencing the teenagers for life but keeping their identities secret due to their young age.
According to the girl’s father, who spoke to the media also anonymously due to Kavaja’s small size and mentality, the boys, students at one of Kavaja’s compulsory 9-year elementary schools, were blackmailing the girl with a video she had made with her boyfriend by threatening to make it public unless she had sexual intercourse with all of them.
The court statement also stated the girl has previously attempted suicide due to the boys’ threats, which extended to the point of threatening her mother and sister.
Government and opposition representatives also commented on the crime, not failing to turn it political.
The country’s opposition, but also a big part of the civil society and independent experts raised concerns about the fact the boys were allowed to act for so long, alleging the police knew about the crime but decided to not act on it.
“The ugly crime that took place in the city of Kavaja, a collective rape, was hidden by the police which was placed on the side of rapists. The Prime Minister was on their side and his followers stood silent. They repeated the same scenario as 3 months ago, with the son of their deputy,” Albanian former Prime Minister Sali Berisha said in parliament on Thursday, referring to the son of the Socialist MP Rrahman Rraja, who was imprisoned last year for physically violating his girlfriend and getting away with it due to political protection.
However, immediate was also the response of Minister of Interior Sander Lleshaj, who said that this case was dealt with by the Kavaja Police since the incident was reported to the authorities.
