Morocco: Attacked for reciting the Quran

The video was recorded in the Chichaoua region. The aggressors are said to have acted on the pretext that the recitation of the Quran by the girls under the tent near their own tent was causing them discomfort.

In the video, one of the aggressors can be heard telling the girls: "People like you don’t know what the Holy Quran is," before threatening to set the tent on fire if they did not leave the premises. One of the girls tried to reason with the group by asking them: "Why do you allow these people to play cards and prevent us from doing so?"

The girls and their guardians filed a complaint with the Royal Gendarmerie of Majat. Thus, on the orders of the Imintanout prosecutor’s office, the gendarmes proceeded to arrest two people, a father and his son, who appeared in the video taken on Friday, March 8, according to the Moroccan Center for Human Rights in Chichaoua.

These girls were attacked "solely because of their gender," denounced the Center in a statement, noting the "discriminatory" nature of this attack that occurred on the day of the celebration of International Women’s Day. The center also instructed its lawyers to join the case as a civil party, calling on the prosecutor’s office to take all necessary measures to guarantee the rights of the victims.