• Similar punishment sought for victim’s mother and grandparents, who allegedly covered up the crime and delayed obtaining medical treatment for the girl, who later died
• Bill before parliament to criminalize firing shots into air after young girl was killed by stray bullet; Japanese Embassy presents mobile clinic to mental health charity Embrace

Najia Houssari

BEIRUT: A man accused of raping his 6-year-old niece, who later died of injuries she sustained during the assault, is facing the death penalty in Lebanon, as are the child’s mother, grandfather and grandmother, who allegedly helped cover up the crime.

They are charged with the premeditated murder of Lynn Taleb, concealing evidence of the crime and protecting the uncle at the expense of the girl’s life. All of the accused are in custody.

An indictment issued on Thursday by North Lebanon First Investigative Judge Samaranda Nassar accuses maternal uncle Nader Bou Khalil of raping the girl in the bathroom of his house on June 29, while his wife was in hospital giving birth to their child.

The victim’s mother, Waad Bou Khalil, grandfather, Fawaz Bou Khalil, and grandmother, Hayat Al-Roz, are accused of “covering up the crime, trying to erase the evidence, changing the circumstances surrounding the crime, refraining from treating the child in the hospital for five days, and only giving her salt-water baths, which led to the exacerbation of the child’s pain as she was grappling with internal bleeding, physical and psychological trauma, all of which ultimately led to her untimely death.”

Doctors have said that girl could have survived if she had received immediate medical treatment.

In another recent incident that caused the death of a child in Lebanon, 7-year-old Naya Hanna died on Saturday, 23 days after being hit in the head by a stray bullet while she was eating in a playground during a summer camp in the Hadath area, east of Beirut.

An only child, she was wounded on Aug. 3 after the results of general certificate exams were announced and some of those who had passed fired celebratory shots into the air. The bullet lodged between her neck and head, and she remained in intensive care for more than three weeks before she died.

Her death sparked protests against the uncontrolled use of firearms and calls for those responsible to be held accountable. However, the shooter has not been identified. Some campaigners on social media described the type of celebration that cost the girl’s life as the “weapon of ignorance.”

MP Adib Abdel Massih has drafted a law, which he called the “Naya Hanna Bill,” that would criminalize the firing of live ammunition into the air, and urged parliament to urgently approve it.

“There has been an increase in deaths and injuries among citizens as a result of this phenomenon and its persistence, whether in times of joy or sorrow, even without motives or reasons,” he said.

In his proposal, which has been submitted to the parliament’s speaker, Nabih Berri, Abdel Massih suggests that “anyone who fires a weapon into the air, whether from a licensed or an unlicensed firearm, causing no harm to individuals shall be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from one to three years, fined 15 times the minimum official wage, have their weapon confiscated, and be permanently banned from obtaining a weapon license.

“The punishment escalates in terms of imprisonment and fine if the gunfire causes human injury, disability, or death. In cases leading to death, the penalty shall be imprisonment for 15 years and a fine of 50 times the minimum wage.”

Meanwhile, as the people of Lebanon continue to face such tragedies, along with the escalating effects of the long-running economic crisis in the country, the Japanese Embassy in the country has donated a mobile clinic to Embrace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for mental health issues.

As he presented the clinic to the organization on Thursday, Ambassador Magoshi Masayuki stressed the importance of initiatives that improve access to mental health services for those in need, regardless of geographical challenges. Japan will continue to stand by Lebanon and its people and help them face the repercussions of unprecedented hardships, he added.

Mia Atoui, the president of Embrace, said the mobile clinic project “plays a pivotal role in helping vulnerable patients in need to access mental health services, and in raising awareness of the importance of mental health care in the country.”

She expressed appreciation for the continued support provided by Japanese authorities and their commitment to working tirelessly to improve people’s lives by helping to enhance access to mental health services.

Embrace said the mobile clinic will provide more than 700 vulnerable people a year from all over the country, especially rural areas, with access to affordable, high-quality mental health services.