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A female is presently awaiting the death penalty in Somalia after being convicted of killing a teenager in her charge.

The murder of parentless child Saabirin Saylaan in last autumn, and the horrific details that came to light about the conditions surrounding her death, provoked protests near her home in Galkayo, along with reinvigorated calls for stronger child protection.

The tragedy struck a chord in a country where child abuse often remains hidden, especially when it takes place inside kinship networks.

For many, Saabirin's death represented a wider failure in child protection and the slow enforcement of legal safeguards meant to prevent such atrocities.

An Uncommon Judgment

The guilty verdict of 34-year-old Hodan Mohamud Diiriye for murder marked one of the infrequent cases in Somalia where a court handed down the ultimate penalty for child abuse.

Diiriye had denied the charges and her lawyer has lodged an challenge against the ruling.

Her spouse, Abdiaziz Nor, 65, was acquitted of murder but given one year in prison and ordered to pay $500 for failure of care.

A Tragic Upbringing

Saabirin was left parentless when both her parents died within a short period when she was just one year old.

Both of her elder female relatives had also died so she was looked after by her late mother's aunt, who ensured she got an education and attended a classical Quranic school.

But her life took a tragic turn in September after Saabirin's elder relative agreed that Diiriye's family, who required a domestic helper, could take her in.

Proof of Maltreatment

During their investigation, police disclosed that in the two months she was living there, the young girl had endured "regular physical abuse" - she was beaten and tortured.

Proof obtained from Diiriye's phone, including videos and audio recordings captured ongoing violence. Some of these were released to the public before the trial.

In one particularly harrowing recording, Diiriye can be heard saying: "I take pleasure in your pain."

A post-mortem examination of Saabirin's body showed multiple injuries and deep knife wounds consistent with sustained violence.

Community Anger

As details of the police investigation emerged, community outrage grew.

Many of women and young people demonstrated in Galkayo, carrying signs reading "We Demand Justice" and calling on the authorities to bring to trial all those responsible.

They assembled outside the local hospital where her body was held in the morgue.

Things got so tense that during one protest demonstrators confronted police and a young man was killed by gunfire.

Online, young women and girls launched a wave of solidarity campaigns, using social media tags invoking Saabirin's name.

"No child should die like this," a tearful 18-year-old protester said in a clip shared on social media. "We also reject the attempts by traditional elders who want to resolve this case through clan customs or behind closed doors."

This refers to when elders from the clans of those involved in a dispute step in with the aim of preventing revenge, rather than establish criminal guilt.

A Systemic Challenge

Child abuse in Somalia is often concealed within households, and relatives are traditionally viewed as safe spaces – where the state should not intervene.

Diiriye's trial and other related hearings were streamed live on social media to foster public trust in the justice system.

A regional police commander said the verdict marked an significant moment in the quest of justice for the murdered teenager.

"The offender is now only awaiting the carrying out of the death sentence. If further evidence surfaces proving that other individuals were involved in this crime, they will not be spared, the law will be fully enforced to them as well," he said.

A director of a child rights organisation said that "this tragedy highlights the profound gaps that still exist in safeguarding the most basic human rights of children in our society."

"Children continue to face violence inside family homes, and only the most severe cases ever reach the police," he added.

Laws and Obstacles

In the summer this year, police in the capital, Mogadishu, acted on a report that a three-year-old boy had been severely abused inside the home of his father's wife. The alleged perpetrator was quickly arrested.

According to a report, three horrific acts of violence against children occurred in the country during October and November.

The head of a local women's association in Galkayo said the community was overwhelmed with cases of violence in the home, many of which never make it to the courts.

On 1 October this year, Somalia's parliament approved the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The long-standing charter outlines legal frameworks to prevent abuse, exploitation and violence against minors.

Its stipulations include:

• Criminalising all forms of child abuse
• Strengthening legal punishment for guardians who harm or neglect children
• Ensuring state responsibility for vulnerable and orphaned children
• And creating monitoring systems in schools, hospitals and communities.

But just three days later, a ministry issued a clarification stating that the implementation of the charter would be guided by Islamic law, with provisions conflicting with religious teaching not being enforced.

It said that Somali parental authority was paramount and no external entity could supersede it.

Lax Implementation

A women's and child's rights activist argued that implementation of existing measures in Somalia remained weak.

The police do not have the resources to deal with cases along with social services. Cases often get interfered with clan elders, which undermines the justice system and victims' voices are not heard, she said.

She notes that children were often did not know that they could report abuse and many schools were not teaching them that they could report abuse.

"In many similar cases, both sides of the family reach a private agreement and then inform the government that the matter has been settled," the activist said.

A coordinator for the region's ministry of women's development denies that the authorities are failing in their responsibility to protect children.

She pointed out programmes to help youths and efforts to protect street children.

She did however admit that in cases like Saabirin's, it is sometimes challenging to intervene. She acknowledged that more should be done to increase understanding that people can speak out if they suspect that a child might not be safe.

"Every child has the right to be taken from any household in which they do not feel safe," the official said.

A Force for Conversation

Although Saabirin's life was cut tragically short, her death is now forcing overdue conversations about child safety in Somalia.

But as the local community considers the verdict, some are unsure if justice will be achieved in the long run.

"There is nothing to rejoice yet, we still need certainty," one of the young protesters said. "We don't want justice in words, we want to see it with our own eyes. We don't want postponements."