Lynn Taleb's paternal family in their house in Safinat al-Qaytaa, in Akkar. (Credit: Mohamad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Investigating Judge in North Lebanon Samaranda Nassar handed down an indictment on Thursday incriminating the uncle, mother and maternal grandparents of Lynn Taleb, aged 6, who died earlier this summer after a violent sexual assault.
L'Orient-Le Jour reviewed a copy of Judge Nasser's indictment. She accused the girl's uncle, Nader Bou Khalil (35), of rape and intentional homicide. The child's mother Waad (36), grandmother Hayate el-Rezz (53), and grandfather Fawaz Bou Khalil (61), are also accused of intentional homicide.
The magistrate relied on Articles 503 and 504 of the Lebanese Penal Code, which dictates a minimum 5-year sentence to anyone who forces a person to have sexual intercourse by means of threats or violence, particularly if that person was "in no state to resist due to physical or psychological inadequacy."
Article 549 of the Penal Code carries a death sentence for the perpetrator and accomplices of intentional homicide, particularly when committed with premeditation and accompanied by "abuse and cruel acts."
Saltwater baths and suras from the Quran
The story of Lynn Taleb, whose death occurred during a stay with her maternal grandparents in Minieh, North Lebanon, caused a stir across the country.
Judge Nasser's indictment statement recounts some of the details of the young girl's ordeal, from her uncle's sexual assault to her death.
According to the indictment, the girl had stopped eating and drinking, and was vomiting constantly. She had developed hysterical behavior and refused to be approached by men, including the doctors who tried to examine her.
In an attempt to cover up the rape, the girl's mother and grandmother forced her to take saltwater baths, which aggravated her wounds and increased her pain, according to the statement.
The family, who refused to hospitalize Lynn, even took her to a sheikh to recite suras from the Quran in an attempt to cure her. The family also tried to confuse investigators by washing the clothes worn by the girl during the assault.
Two forensic doctors commissioned by the authorities and quoted in the indictment confirmed that the little girl had succumbed to a hemorrhage caused by her rape. She had developed an infection and severe anemia which ultimately led to her death.
Indifference
Highly placed judicial sources well-informed about the interrogations revealed to L'Orient-Le Jour in early August that the maternal family's hearings had been conducted in a climate of heavy indifference.
The mother, for her part, was not visibly shaken by the details, despite their seriousness, according to one of the judicial sources interviewed.
The family continued to deny the facts, despite the discovery of traces of the uncle's DNA on the girl's clothes. The uncle continues to claim his innocence.