MUSCAT // The minimum sentence handed down to a confessed child rapist by an Omani court yesterday has sparked outrage among citizens.
The 46-year old Omani man had pleaded guilty to charges of repeatedly raping three boys, two aged six and the third aged eight, who had been sent to him for lessons on the Quran and Islamic studies.
A judge in the eastern town of Ashkhara sentenced the man to five years in jail and banned him for life from interaction with children after his release.
“This is an outrage. Five years is nothing. He should get a maximum sentence. He abused the trust parents put in him as a tutor,” said Khalil Al Jarwani, a campaigner who helped the victims’ parents gather evidence against the rapist.
Under Omani law, the sentence for rape ranges from five to 15 years.
Marwan Al Hashmi, a trainee lawyer at a law firm in Muscat, said he planned to start a nationwide campaign for judges to treat rape cases in general more seriously and consider handing down the maximum sentence.
“We don’t take rape seriously enough in this country. Why are statistics not made available on how many such cases happen in Oman? The statistics are important to know whether the phenomenon is under control or not,” Mr Al Hashmi said, referring to statistics on all rape cases. “Without records, we will not know the seriousness of this crime. That’s why judges give out lenient sentences instead of the maximum.”
The court that passed the sentence declined to comment on the case or the previous cases on record.
A police spokesman told The National that any rape cases in Oman were "isolated and not common", without elaborating.
But social workers say they often hear of sexual abuse of children sent by their parents to Quran tutors after school hours, a common practice in the sultanate.
“We need to monitor these afternoon Quran tuitions. They teach very young children and you often hear of these kinds of abuses, but rarely are they made public. In my opinion, proper screening must be done of tutors on their respectability and whether they are fit to take charge of young children,” said Khadija Al Araimi, a social worker with the Omani Women’s Association, a Muscat-based NGO, who specialises in child abuse.
A number of social media users in Oman blamed stigma for the unwillingness of families to talk openly when a relative has been raped.
“Rape, no matter where or who it happens to, must be made public and published in the media,” said one Twitter user. “Hushing it up the way it is done now is as good as encouraging rapists to continue their dirty habits.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae