The evening in Aden was unlike any other that day in March 2024…
The air was light, the street familiar, and a little girl was touching the ground with her very first steps…
Before she was suddenly taken by a merciless hand, stained by the most shocking acts, crimes against all norms and basic human nature.

In a Moment, Her Trace Disappeared

The child Malak (a pseudonym), was just two years old,
stepped outside the front door of her home in one of the usually safe neighborhoods of Crater District, wandering in the last light of day. Her sister tried to hold on to her tiny laugh… but that laugh didn’t last long.

In a sudden, unclear moment, she vanished from the doorstep.
A teenage boy took her and ran quickly toward a deserted alley… and the world seemed to lose a heartbeat it relied on in those moments.

He was a young man from the neighborhood, originally from another governorate,
and the cameras captured the truth:
a hand carrying a crying child… steps leading toward an abandoned area behind the buildings, toward the “Gharsan” bookstore.

Eyewitnesses saw him but felt no suspicion; the scene looked ordinary,
a child crying in the arms of a young man who could have been her brother.
But sometimes, evil hides within the simplest scenes of everyday life.

A Mother Running After Emptiness

With no time for tears, the mother ran as if she had lost the ability to stand…
She rushed from door to door, searching people’s faces, pleading with the surveillance footage, looking for even a shadow that resembled her daughter, Malak.

As for the father, at the Seerah fish market,
the news hit him like a heavy stone on a chest already worn by life’s hardships.
He couldn’t comprehend it… but he moved.
Panic doesn’t grant you the luxury of understanding,
it only forces you to act.

Meanwhile, the perpetrator walked among the searchers, pretending to be part of the rescue effort, after committing his crime.
But the cameras had seen what people had missed, and later revealed the truth, allowing everyone to recognize the kidnapper’s face.

The Alley of Terror

On the second day after the kidnapping, the body of Malak was found in an abandoned area,
a place that should have been empty of everything…
except God.

The perpetrator confessed after being confronted with the evidence.
He led authorities to the location where he had hidden the child.
According to the forensic report, Malak was subjected to a horrific assault and then killed, her body left in a deserted alley that turned into a haunting tragedy for the entire city.

The perpetrator, according to lawyer and human-rights activist A.A., claimed insanity
as those who fear the truth for the first time often do.

Postponed Court Hearing

At the beginning of June 2024, the Crater Primary Court held its first session to review the case of the killing of the child Malak, known in the media as the “Al-Rozumait Neighborhood Crime,” with the accused H.A.S.

The session was presided over by Judge Nizar Mohammed bin Mohammed Ali Al-Saman, with the presence of the Public Prosecution, the victim’s father, and the family’s lawyer, Khaled Al-Salawi.
The defendant appeared from detention, while his relatives were absent.

The judge began by asking the defendant basic personal questions. The defendant hesitated, showing clear panic:

— Judge: Your name?
— Defendant: (No response)
— Judge: How old are you?
— Defendant: I don’t know.
— Judge: Where do you live?
— Defendant: Crater.
— Judge: Do you have a lawyer?
— Defendant: Yes.
— Judge: Where is your lawyer?
— Defendant: At home.
— Judge: Do you know your lawyer?
— Defendant: If I see him, I will know him.

At this point, the victims’ lawyer informed the court that the defendant had previously given his statements to the Prosecution in the presence of his mother. He suggested that the defendant’s mother and lawyer be notified to attend the next session to support the court’s procedures.

Accordingly, the court decided to postpone presenting the indictment and evidence until after the judicial holiday, specifically to the July 16 session , and assigned the Public Prosecution to notify the defendant’s mother and lawyer to attend.

Attempts to Escape Accountability

According to lawyer and human-rights activist A.A., the perpetrator’s family , whose file reportedly includes prior misconduct , is attempting to obtain a medical report from outside Aden, costing 3 million riyals, to claim “mental instability.”
However, a local medical assessment has already contradicted that claim.

Justice here is not blind…
It is surrounded.

The Family… In a Home Without Light

According to activist A.A., no words can fully describe the mother’s state,
nor can anything capture the father’s look,
nor any language reach the heart of the sister who lost half of her world.
No psychological support has yet been offered to them.

That is life’s harsh reality:
Some families survive…
others remain hanging between life and a shock that refuses to fade.

The Legal Framework , Without Sugarcoating

Under Yemeni Criminal Law (Law No. 12 of 1994):

• The crime is premeditated murder , Article 234 and beyond
• Combined with assault on a child , Article 269
• Penalties are heightened due to aggravating factors:
  age, use of force, kidnapping , Article 42

Maximum penalty: Death
The case is classified among the highest levels of criminal severity under Yemeni law.

Under International Law (Convention on the Rights of the Child – CRC):

Under Article 19 of the CRC, the State is obligated to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social, and educational measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, neglect, or abuse. The State’s failure to prevent the acts committed or to provide the necessary protection to the child constitutes a clear breach of this obligation.

In addition, Article 34 of the CRC requires the State to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The facts indicate that the child was subjected to violations falling within the scope of this prohibition, reflecting a failure to adopt effective preventive and protective measures.

Furthermore, pursuant to Article 37, the CRC prohibits subjecting any child to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The acts described amount to treatment that violates this absolute prohibition, which the State is required to respect and ensure.

Accordingly, the crime at issue constitutes a dual violation of the child’s fundamental rights under international law, in particular the right to life and the right to protection from all forms of violence, thereby engaging the State’s responsibility for failing to fulfill its international obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UN Statistics

While comprehensive UN statistics on individual cases of sexual violence against children in Yemen remain limited, field documentation collected by local human rights organizations under programs such as SAFE I and SAFE II , as well as detailed case analyses in human-rights reports , indicates the scale of under-reported violations.
 For example, one partner organization documented 13 cases involving 18 child victims between April 2022 and December 2023, with additional reports showing dozens of documented cases over previous years.
 The “I’m Afraid of Scandal” investigative report further highlights patterns of violence and the dynamics of under-reporting, noting that fear of stigma often leads families to suppress reporting of sexual violence even when organizations document these cases.
 These field data underscore the prevalence of sexual violence against children in the context of the conflict, alongside the United Nations’ finding of over 3,300 grave violations against children in Yemen in 2023.

Why Do These Crimes Keep Happening?

This crime did not begin with the perpetrator alone
but with a collapsed environment around the child.

A painful, realistic analysis shows:

• Weak enforcement of the law in some neighborhoods
• High legal costs that poorer families cannot bear
• Attempts to buy false medical exemptions
• Lack of supervision over teenagers at risk
• Near-absence of mental-health and child-protection services in Aden

What Must Happen Now?

• Implement the law without mediation
• Prevent manipulation of medical reports
• Increase security monitoring in abandoned areas
• Provide mandatory psychological support for victims’ families
• Strengthen community awareness on child protection
• Establish a specialized Child Protection Unit in Aden
• Monitor at-risk teenagers influenced by armed groups or drugs
• In parallel, INSAF has documented this case and submitted it to relevant international mechanisms as part of its advocacy efforts.
• Through international engagement, INSAF seeks to prompt concrete action by local state authorities, reinforce accountability, and support the effective enforcement of child protection laws to prevent similar violations in the future.

The Killing of Tomorrow

Malak was not only a child
she was a beautiful possibility for the future.

Destroying a future that has barely begun
is one of the most devastating crimes against humanity.