Moroccan Court Sentences Man to 10 Years for Partner’s Murder in Blackmail Case

"The case concerns a serious incident that had shaken the inhabitants of the Al-Ababda district in Salé, about a year ago. A young woman in her twenties had been found dead after being thrown into the sea in Salé. This tragedy involving violence, blackmail, betrayal and indecency has led to the conviction of the defendant," reports Al Akhbar. Prosecuted for "intentional violence causing death, sexual assault with violence, public drunkenness, blackmail and threats of publication of compromising content," the young man was sentenced to ten years in prison.

According to the investigation conducted by the judicial police of Salé, the victim, a young woman around 20 years old, was "under psychological pressure" from the accused who threatened to publish intimate photos and videos of her. To put an end to this blackmail, she had made an appointment with the young man on the beach of the Chemaou district in Salé to recover the phone containing these compromising data. Her body was later found on the Nations beach in Salé. The defendant, drunk at the time of the events, had told the investigators that the victim had fallen from a cliff.

But the contradictions in his statements, as well as the testimonies collected from his relatives, made it possible to establish his guilt. "The statements of the victim’s mother also contradicted his version of the facts. The latter had received photos and recordings sent by her daughter via WhatsApp, revealing the nature of the confrontation between her daughter and the accused," specifies the daily. The results of the autopsy performed on the victim’s body confirmed the guilt of the accused: the young woman died from asphyxiation and cerebral hemorrhage.