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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Chadian teenager Zouhoura, whose gang-rape by young men from well-to-do families sparked unprecedented mass protests in her country, says she wants justice for herself and for &#8216;all women&#8217; who have long suffered in silence.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">On February 8, the fragile-looking 16-year-old was assaulted in a brutal attack that shocked many in the poor central African nation. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">This horrific event triggered weeks of of demonstrations by thousands of young people in the streets.</span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Zouhoura was on her way to school in the capital N&#8217;Djamena with a friend when a car with tinted windows pulled up alongside them. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Five boys were in the vehicle, whom Zouhoura later to learn were rich sons of the ruling class.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;They grabbed me by the neck and threw me into the car,&#8217; Zouhoura said. &#8216;They took me outside the city by force&#8230;You know the rest.&#8217;</span></div>
<div><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-26252" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/zahara3.png" alt="zahara3" width="627" height="717" /></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Zouhoura has since returned to France, where she had already lived with relatives from 2009 to 2015. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">She has decided to speak out publicly in Paris to fight impunity for sex criminals in her homeland.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;There has never been justice before over the rape of a Chadian woman,&#8217; said Zouhoura, her gaze firm from beneath a grey headscarf. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;I&#8217;m not the only victim. There are other women and girls who have been raped &#8211; I know them &#8211; and they have remained anonymous, they have said nothing,&#8217; she added in an interview on Friday.</span></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Encouraged by her father, who lives in the eastern French town of Nancy and is an opponent of the hardline regime of President Idriss Deby Itno, Zouhoura agreed to address a meeting and give an interview.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;I expected him to say &#8216;Wait, we need to settle this in the family,&#8217; but no, he didn&#8217;t hesitate. He told me to &#8216;go and file a lawsuit&#8217;,&#8217; the youngster said of her father.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;To start with, I said nothing, but later, when I saw that everybody was supporting me, I told myself, why not speak out, (and) fight this?&#8217;</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Zouhoura said that when she turned to the police in Chad they didn&#8217;t react at first.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Detectives considered that a rape claim against the sons of senior officials in the regime was taboo. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;I talked, I talked. They threatened me,&#8217; she said. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Furious to discover that Zouhoura was seeking action against them, the alleged rapists posted images of the assault on social networks.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">But their action backfired as photos of the naked girl in tears sent a shock wave of disgust across Chad.</span></div>
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<div class="imageCaption"><b>The horrific event triggered weeks of of demonstrations by thousands of young people in the streets of N&#8217;Djamena</b></div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Despite the regime&#8217;s tight security, which leaves opponents little room for manoeuvre, hundreds of schoolchildren demonstrated in the capital on February 15.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">They were dispersed by riot police and one youth, 17-year-old Abbachou Hassan Ousmane, was shot dead.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">The protest movement spread to other Chadian towns in the days that followed.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">More young demonstrators were wounded and at least 17 were arrested, but the wave of solidarity spread abroad.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">To see Chadians from the diaspora joining the protest as far afield as London and Washington encouraged Zouhoura. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">When Chadian authorities &#8216;saw that the people were demonstrating and that my picture was circulating everywhere on social networks, they were quick to arrest the criminals,&#8217; she added.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">The five alleged rapists, who include the sons of three generals, were taken into custody together with four suspected accomplices, including a son of Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">But Zouhoura doubts that they will ever be brought to trial. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;In Chad, there is no justice&#8230; I am not even sure that they are in prison,&#8217; she said.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Although she is skeptical, she is determined to at least try to have them held to account. &#8216;I want justice to be done, so that this doesn&#8217;t happen again,&#8217; she commented. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">Zouhoura&#8217;s voice sometimes chokes and a tear rolls down her cheek. It is tough to speak out to journalists about rape. </span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">&#8216;It had to be done, it was necessary,&#8217; she insisted.</span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font"><span style="font-size:1.2em;">The teenager plans to &#8216;continue this fight&#8217;, then later, perhaps, resume studies that were so brutally interrupted.</span></div>
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Courage in the face of stifling oppression: Fearless girl, 16, waives her anonymity to shame the five men who assaulted her and posted pictures of attack online
