2-Year-Old Child Allegedly Killed By Minor Cousins For Resisting Rape, Body Found In Drain

A 2-year-old girl, who had been missing for a few days in southern Egypt, was found dead in a drain.

The victim's two cousins – aged eight and 13 – were arrested on suspicion of attempted rape and murder of the child. The incident took place in the village of Bani Hamil, which is located near the city of Al-Balina.

Local media reported the child's cousins were the last people who had seen her alive. The victim has not been named. The girl's father had been searching for her after she went missing and filed a complaint with the Al-Balina Police Department. He later found her body in a drain, 7News reported.

When the police questioned the two cousins, they admitted to having killed the girl after they “failed to sexually assault her.” They also admitted that they were afraid of being caught, so they dumped the body in a drain, Al Arabiya reported [Google Translate showed].

Authorities said they were investigating the incident. However, the charges placed against the minors remain unclear.

No other detail about the case has been made public so far. Local media also did not reveal the date of disappearance of the girl. The day when the body was found was also not mentioned.

According to Egyptian law, it is prohibited to use the death penalty against juvenile offenders. However, according to Amnesty International, since 2013, there have been instances of minors being sentenced to death by Egypt’s lower courts.

Last month, the Egyptian police revealed details about the death of a teenager, who was allegedly kidnapped and gang raped by three men at gunpoint. The accused prevented the 14-year-old girl from eating and drinking, and tortured her in various ways, including burning cigarettes on her body and whipping her with a stick, local media reported at the time. After a week of torture, the men dumped her body in front of a cemetery. All the accused were investigated for the rape, torture, starvation and murder of the minor girl. The identities of the victim and the accused were not revealed. However, local police said the accused were all in their 30s.