Family of Sudanese 8-year-old 'gang raped by 14 people' launch legal action

Zainab Yasser, who lived with her mother after her parents' divorce, was repeatedly raped by a gang of at least 14 people, chief of which was her neighbours' son.

The heinous crime was revealed by her father who noticed she had shown signs of anxiety and a loss of appetite after she requested to live with him.

The rapes would occur when she would visit the neighbours house to play with her friend, the father said in an emotional video that surfaced online.

The son at the neighbouring house would take her into another room to rape her along with 13 others instead, Zainab said in the video alongside her father, as he sat in apparent distress.

The young girl said she was threatened with murder by the mother of the rapist who knew what was taking place.

"She threatened to kill me if I told someone what had happened," Zainab said.

A forensic report backed Zainab's account, confirming she was repeatedly raped.

Protests, led by the family and the young girl herself, erupted in the Sudanese capital on Thursday to call for justice.

Zainab was pictured holding a sign at the protest that said: "I am Zainab, the child who was raped, 8 and a half years old, by my neighbour and 13 others.

"I appeal to the minister of justice for retribution in a public domain," the sign said.

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