Lawyers defending Mohammad Amin, who raped the girl in a mosque in Afganistan, argued that this was a case of ‘adultery’, and that, under sharia law, he should only be lashed, then freed.

But according to this report, judge Judge Mohammad Suliman Rasuli contemptuously dismissed this defence, saying that the victim:

Cannot commit adultery; she is a child. This is rape.

The judge then sentenced Amin to 20 years in prison.

The attack took place inside a mosque in a remote Afghan village back in May of this year. Amin had asked three young girls to clean for him, then began behaving inappropriately. The girls made a run for it. One tripped and fell in a stream. Amin dragged her back inside the mosque, where she was raped and left with serious injuries.

According to sharia Law, which the mullah tried to rely on in court, rape is considered a form of adultery for which both parties are responsible. Amin’s defence lawyers argued that he should be sentenced to 100 lashes and then released – but that would have meant the girl also receiving the same punishment.

Human rights campaigners have welcomed the judge’s stance on the case, especially after reports came to light alleging that the girl’s family had considered killing her because of the shame that had been brought upon the family.

This practice – known as an ‘honour killing’ – is relatively common against rape victims in Afghanistan, where rape was not even a crime until a landmark law was brought in to eliminate violence against women and girls in 2009.

The girl’s life was saved after the group Women for Afghan Women stepped in and urged the family to support their daughter. They sheltered the girl and paid for her family’s travel expenses to attend the trial in Kabul.

The head of the Women for Afghan Women shelter here where the girl took refuge, Dr Hassina Sarwari, pictured above showing the a photo of the injured victim, was at one point driven into hiding by death threats from the girl’s family and other mullahs, who sought to play down the crime by arguing the girl was much older than 10.

One militia commander sent Dr Sarwari threatening texts and an ultimatum to return the girl to her family.

During the trial, the girl kept her face covered but wept uncontrollably as the prosecutor read out the mullah’s confession and the report detailing her injuries.

However, at the point where Amin tried to claim she had seduced him, she pulled aside her veil and spoke to him directly:

Hey liar, hey liar, God hates you, you are dirt, you are dirt, you are a vampire.

The girl, who was not called upon to speak, insisted that she be heard, and added:

You shamed me, liar, you destroyed my life, you brought shame to my father.

Addressing the judge, she said:

Please, director, hang him.

However, it has been reported that after the trial, the girl’s father did not look at or speak to his daughter. The girl reportedly tried to follow her father after he turned his back and walked out of the courtroom but she stopped when she saw that he was not going to speak to her.

Heartbreakingly, she just gazed at him until his back was gone.