Father ‘Reborn’ After Execution Of Man Who Raped And Strangled Three-Year-Old Daughter


The father of the three-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered, has revealed his relief and satisfaction from witnessing the public execution of the man who committed the atrocities.

Yahaya Almatari, father of three-year-old Rana, disclosed to Mail Online that he felt reborn and was now living the first day of the rest of his life after the horrifying death of his little girl. The toddler was killed in Yemen which has been engulfed in a civil war for the better part of two years. According to UN figures, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed and three million more have been displaced from their homes. Stark statistics also show that 75 people die in the conflict-ridden country every day.

In Yemen, Sharia law like in most Muslim nations is the source of all legislation and murder is punishable by death with beheading as the most popular form of execution. Saudi Arabia carried out 157 executions in 2015 alone and most of them were for non-lethal offenses.

Yahaya expressed gratitude to the system over justice that was meted out to child killer and close neighbor, Muhammad al Maghrabi despite the turmoil in the country. He thanked the thousands of people that had trooped to the town square to witness the execution and also those who followed him to the morgue to identify Rana’s body.

Yahaya said his daughter disappeared in the afternoon, shortly after she went outside to play with friends. According to him, his wife went to get her after 15 minutes but could not find her. The couple searched for Rana frantically with the help of friends, relatives and neighbors all to no avail. The mother said it was unbelievable that her had daughter vanished without a trace.

“There was no sign of her. It was bizarre how Rana had disappeared, as if the ground had opened and swallowed her.”

Yahaya and his wife reported the toddler’s disappearance to the police and issued a national appeal on TV stations for people to help locate their missing girl. The 41-year-old rapist and child killer still lived with his parents and stayed just two doors away from Rana. A source speaking to the Independent disclosed that the killer’s parents tipped off police two days later about their son’s involvement in the crime.

When police raided the 41-year-old’s basement home, they found lubricants and sexual enhancement pills in his room, leading investigators to believe that he had been planning the crime for awhile. The 41-year-old who is a Moroccan national admitted to snatching the girl off the street and raping her. He revealed that he strangled the toddler with his bare hands and later dumped her remains near a mosque.

The 41-year-old man was initially sentenced to 100 lashes for having confessed to rape and murder. However, the national outrage that followed caused the Sharia judge to impose a severe sentence—the death penalty. Before his execution, a mob had gathered outside the police station, demanding jungle justice for the 41-year-old.

It took a statement from the Ministry of Justice to calm the crowd.

Five police vans shadowed the prison van that took the rapist and child killer to the public square where he was executed. Over 10,000 people gathered to witness Muhammad al Maghrabi’s death.

He was laid on a rug and shot at point-blank range with an AK-47 machine gun. The execution was broadcast live on Yemen television.

[Featured Image by Marcogarrincha/Thinkstock]

Share this article: Father ‘Reborn’ After Execution Of Man Who Raped And Strangled Three-Year-Old Daughter
More from Inquisitr