The brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl has sparked outrage in Ethiopia, with many saying the sentence given to her attacker is too lenient.

Heaven Awot was sexually assaulted, mutilated and killed by her mother’s landlord Getnet Baye last August in the north-western city of Bahir Dar in Amhara region.

Getnet was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The case attracted widespread attention after he recently launched an appeal, and the case is now adjourned until October.

The mother of the girl, Abekyelesh Adeba, tells the BBC that losing her child has left her feeling “lifeless”.

More than 200,000 people have so far signed an online petition demanding a review of the sentencing “to reflect the gravity of the crime” and to offer support for the grieving mother.

One of the largest women’s rights advocacy groups in the country, the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), released a statement saying they believe the sentencing was “very light”, adding “the murder by itself should have been enough to sentence him to life imprisonment or to death… It’s specially sickening and outrageous when such a horrendous crime is committed against children.”

Senior government officials have joined the chorus of criticism, with Minister for Women and Social Affairs Ergogie Tesfaye writing on her Facebook page that the crimes committed against Heaven were “inhumane” and saying her office would pursue the case with stakeholders.

The brutal attack has triggered heated discussions about the safety of vulnerable women and young girls in Ethiopia.

According to a report released in May by Human Rights Watch, conflict-related sexual violence “has reached alarming levels in Ethiopia”.

The lack of accountability for perpetrators is seen by some as one contributing factor for its prevalence.

Thousands of women and young girls are reported to have been raped during a devastating two-year war in Tigray, the country’s northernmost region.

Before being raped and killed, Heaven saw the breaking up of her family because of that war.

Her father, an ethnic Tigrayan, was imprisoned for months at the height of the conflict. He was never charged.

When he was released, he left Amhara – where he felt there was still hostility and suspicions towards him – for Tigray.

Heaven’s mother, Ms Abekyelesh, a nurse, was left to raise her and her younger sister alone.

Being on friendly terms with their landlord who lived with his family within the same compound, Ms Abekyelesh told the BBC that she never felt any threat to her children.

She was related to the landlord’s wife which made her feel even more at ease.

When Heaven was attacked, Ms Abekyelesh was at work and the girl’s aunt was babysitting her.

Her aunt says Heaven told her she was going to the bathroom, and did not return. Wondering why she was taking so long, the aunt says she went to look for the girl but did not find her. She believes Getnet had snatched her away.

Later that day, Heaven’s mutilated body was found in front of her home with clear marks of being strangled. Her mother tells the BBC that she believes the attacker dropped the body there.

“If our children can’t be safe in our homes, where else can we go?,” she says. “Should we stop work and spend all our time with them? How can we feed them?”

In the following months, Ms Abekyelesh faced added ordeals as she grieved her murdered daughter.

She had to go into hiding, fearing for her own and her other daughter’s safety, after the attacker – Getnet – escaped from custody.

He fled from the police station in Bahir Dar where he was being detained last August, after local Amhara militias battling the army broke into that facility to free their fellow fighters who were held there.

Now on the loose, Getnet came looking for Heaven’s mother with a gun. He was not rearrested for close to a month.

She says she felt that security forces were reluctant to detain him, and had to beg them to re-arrest him. All the while Getnet was threatening her.

It left Ms Abekyelesh feeling unsafe, and as a result she has moved homes and jobs repeatedly in the year since.

Ms Abekyelesh feels that the justice system failed her. She does not believe the 25-year sentence for Getnet was enough.

But she is more concerned about him winning his appeal and getting an early release.

“I have lost my Heaven… I am lifeless,” she tells the BBC.

Yet as a health worker, she says she knows of countless more women and young girls who have been sexually assaulted.

“I know there are so many Heavens.”

If you have been affected by the issues in this story and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. (BBC)

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