Moroccan police arrest 12 over alleged gang rape of teenage girl ‘tattooed with swastikas’

Main suspect is being held on suspicion of rape, torture, kidnapping, making death threats and forming a gang

Khadija shows the cigarette burns and tattoos over her body after being held by a gang of rapists (choufTV)

Moroccan police have arrested 12 people over the alleged gang rape and torture of a teenage girl after her case sparked mass outrage and written appeals to King Mohammed VI for help.

Khadija Okkarou, 17, told local network Chouf TV last week that she had been kidnapped and held for two months by a gang of over a dozen men who raped, beat and forcibly tattooed her with swastikas.

In the shocking footage, the young girl showed her arms, legs and neck which are covered in crude tattoos as well as cigarette burns.

Okkarou said she had been snatched from outside a relative’s home in Oulad Ayad town, in central Morocco.

"They held me for about two months, and raped and tortured me… I will never forgive them. They have destroyed me," she said.

A Moroccan court official said that all the suspects are aged between 18 and 27 and are being investigated by a judge in the nearby city of Beni Mellal.

The main suspect, aged 20, is being held on suspicion of rape, torture, kidnapping, making death threats and forming a gang, the official added.

Ten others are facing similar charges, while the final suspect is under investigation for failing to report a crime and failing to help a person in danger.

Okkarou's plight sparked international uproar, with people taking to social media to demand justice under the hashtag “We are all Khadija”.

Meanwhile, over 25,000 people signed a petition urging King Mohammed VI to provide her with medical and psychological care, including help removing the tattoos.

Loubna el-Joud of women's rights group NSAT, which is providing Okkarou with support, said that she was still in shock, although she “tries to remain strong”.

"Her hands shake when she speaks” Ms el-Joud said.

Parents of the suspects have, however, hit back in interviews with local news networks, defending their sons and claiming that Okkarou had tattooed and burnt herself.

“She has a bad reputation in Oulad Ayad,” one mother told Soltana, news outlet, claiming the teenager led a “depraved” lifestyle.

“She wanted this,” the unnamed woman added.

Rape victims in Morocco are often subject to a double trauma as the conservative society blames them for their ordeal.

Sexual harassment, violence and abuse of women is often rife in Morocco. Last year Moroccan courts heard 1,600 cases of rape, twice as many as previous years. While nearly two-thirds of women have experienced some form of abuse, according to a 2009 national survey.

There has been public outcry over the treatment of women after two videos surfaced during last August and in March of this year, showing the brutal sexual assault of two young girls.

The state has worked to curb the violence. In February it ratified a new law criminalisng forms of domestic violence and establishing protection for victims of sexual assault.