فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The Court of Cassation in Rabat has sent the disturbing case related to the brutal street slaughter of a five-year-old child in Salé back to the beginning. The retrial of the young man implicated in this crime recommenced last week at the Rabat Court of Appeal.
The accused, previously convicted at both the primary and appellate levels to life imprisonment, appeared before the judicial panel of the appellate criminal chamber of the Rabat Court of Appeal last Wednesday. This followed the Court of Cassation’s decision to overturn the previous verdict against him. The start of the case’s discussion has been postponed until mid-month to allow the defense to prepare.
The retrial is expected to witness further dramatic developments, adding to the series of intense moments that characterized the hearings during the initial and appellate stages, which culminated in the perpetrator’s life sentence. Meanwhile, voices close to the victim’s family have called for the death penalty, given the severity of the criminal act that shocked the entire Moroccan population in 2019. In that year, the accused savagely slit the throat of an innocent five-year-old boy in broad daylight, in front of horrified citizens and passersby.
The appellate criminal chamber of the Rabat Court of Appeal had previously concluded the case of the accused, initially sentenced to life imprisonment for the deliberate murder of the child in the Al-Qarya neighborhood of Salé in 2019, in January 2023. The judicial panel upheld the initial life sentence handed down by its counterpart in the primary criminal chamber in late September 2022.
The accused, born in 1986, is charged with premeditated murder with intent and lying in wait. He was arrested by the judicial police of the Salé Regional Security and referred to the public prosecutor and the investigating judge, who subjected him to detailed investigations supported by psychological and scientific expert reports. These reports confirmed his mental soundness and his conscious and deliberate involvement in the crime.
Recalling the horrific details of the crime that shook local and national public opinion, a young man in his thirties pounced on a young child, no older than five, who was playing in front of his family’s home with other young children. He knocked the child to the ground before drawing a knife he possessed and slitting the child’s throat, leaving behind immense shock among his family and the wider public after images and videos documenting some details of the crime circulated.
Regarding the case details, local sources in Salé reported that the young accused, who had no prior criminal record, had left his family home in a hysterical state due to a family dispute before committing the heinous attack that resulted in the death of the five-year-old child.
News reports detailing the incident confirmed that the Ouled Moussa village in Salé, specifically “Sector 4,” was shaken by the gruesome murder committed by a person who appeared to suffer from mental illness. He deliberately slaughtered a child who was playing in front of his parents’ door in front of his older brother, leaving a severe psychological impact and turning the family’s life upside down.
According to eyewitnesses, the child was kicked and beaten before receiving fatal stab wounds from the aforementioned individual, who then mercilessly slit his throat and fled immediately after committing the crime. However, some young men managed to stop him and hand him over to the police, where a large crowd of citizens gathered in front of the 13th police district headquarters in the Hassain area.
A statement from the Directorate General of National Security confirmed that the suspect had killed the victim using a folding knife, which was seized for the investigation, in the Al-Baraka neighborhood of Ouled Moussa village in New Salé. Investigations enabled detectives to unravel the mystery of this crime, confirming that the perpetrator committed it deliberately and consciously, contrary to the initial justifications suggesting psychological and mental disorders. These were quickly refuted by scientific and psychological evaluations conducted by specialized doctors, under the direction of the public prosecutor, the investigating judge, and the judicial panels of both the primary and appellate criminal chambers of the Rabat Court of Appeal.
