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Algerians Call for Reinstating Death Penalty for Child Killers | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Algerian police in Amenas on January 21, 2012. By Farouk Batiche (AFP/File)


Algiers- Algerians have been under shock since the brutal killing of a 10-year-old boy in a town in al-Oued province this week.

A farmer found the body of Bilal buried in an isolated place a week after his disappearance.

The boy was last seen riding his bicycle near his family home.

His murder brought back discussions on reinstating the death penalty which has been frozen since the execution in 1993 of four extremists accused of carrying out a deadly bombing at Algiers’ airport a year earlier.

The parents of children found dead after their kidnapping began urging Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika this week to reinstate the death penalty for child killers.

Bilal’s grieving father demanded utmost punishment for his son’s abductors and murderers.

“The criminals wanted to steal the innocence of my boy who was playing like the rest of the children in the neighborhood,” he said.

He also urged security forces to swiftly carry out their investigation to find the perpetrators.

Several such crimes have hit different Algerian provinces in the past three years. One of the most brutal murders was the killing of Yassine Bebshar in southwest Algeria last year.

The boy’s hands were cut after he was knifed to death.

Investigators discovered that the murderer was a woman who wanted to use Yassine’s hands in witchcraft.

Another incident that has shocked public opinion was the death of five-year-old Nohal who had come to Algiers with her mother to attend her uncle’s wedding.

The girl disappeared minutes after arriving in the capital. Her body was found in the suburbs a week later.

According to investigators, the perpetrator was her uncle’s friend who wanted to take vengeance as a result of a business dispute with the groom.