Legislators propose amending Moroccan law allowing rapist to marry victim to escape trial
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The Justice and Human Rights Commission of Morocco's parliament has proposed removing a paragraph from the penal code that allows a rapist to escape prosecution by marrying his underage victim.
Thursday's move came a year after the Islamist-led government promised to amend Article 475 of the penal code and nearly two years after a young girl committed suicide after being forced to marry her rapist. Her parents and a judge had pushed the marriage to protect the family's honor.
The 2012 suicide of 16-year-old Amina al-Filali after seven months of marriage to the 23-year-old she said had raped her shocked the country and spurred calls to a legal change.
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Parliament must now vote on the commission's call to remove that paragraph from the penal code.