Moroccan Girl Commits Suicide After Marriage to Rapist

Moroccans are furious over the suicide of a 16-year-old girl who was subject to Article 475 of the nation’s penal code, which allows the “kidnapper” of a minor to skirt criminal charges if he marries his victim. Online activists are speaking out after Amina Filali swallowed rat poison over the weekend in defiance of her marriage to the person who raped her one year ago. Article 475 is rarely used, though victims’ families sometimes opt for it out of the fear that the public knowledge of a rape will make a bride unable to find a husband. The victim’s father has said that the court suggested that his daughter marry the rapist when he first told them about the case. The Facebook group “We are all Amina Filali” already has 1,000 signatures.