Missing Moroccan Students Found; Adult Suspect Jailed for Alleged Sexual Assault

Four days after their disappearance in Zagora, five students (three girls aged between 14 and 17 and two boys - one aged 19 and the other a minor) were found in the afternoon of last Monday in a deserted area near the Kissan mountain around the commune of Taftechna. During their presentation by the Royal Gendarmerie services to the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Ouarzazate on Wednesday, the girls accused the two boys of sexual assault. After being placed in custody, the 19-year-old student was placed in pre-trial detention on Thursday, pending the start of his trial, reports the website Al3omk. The minor student was, for his part, kept under surveillance.

The five students, two of whom are from the Tighz douar and three from the Tamlalt douar, disappeared on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, January 25. When leaving their homes that day, they had made their families believe that they were going to attend tutoring classes at their school, the Ibn Rochd preparatory college. Following their disappearance, the Royal Gendarmerie services of Zagora had opened an investigation to search for the students, with the collaboration of their families and classmates.