[1] Local human rights groups also called for the repeal of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, which de-criminalises a rape if the rapist later marries their victim.
According to members of her family, she did so out of despair after being forced to marry Mustafa Fellaq, a man ten years older than her who had raped her twice.
In spite of confusion in the accounts of her family and rapist-husband immediately after, Mustapha El Khalfi, the government's spokesperson and minister of Communications declared: "The girl was raped twice, the last one when she was married.
In the words of Khadija Rouggani, a lawyer and activist: "She was a victim of a law article that erases a double crime: abduction or corruption of a minor and rape.
[10] The text of article 475 before it was amended in 2014 contained the following mention: "When a female minor of marriageable age thus abducted or corrupted has married her abductor, the later can only be sued if the plaintiffs qualify to ask for the annulment of the marriage, and can only be condemned after the annulment has been pronounced" ("Lorsqu'une mineure nubile ainsi enlevée ou détournée a épousé son ravisseur, celui-ci ne peut être poursuivi que sur la plainte des personnes ayant qualité pour demander l'annulation du mariage et ne peut être condamné qu'après que cette annulation du mariage a été prononcée").
The current article 475 only states the following: "Anyone who, without violence, threats or fraud, abducts or corrupts a minor of less than 18 year-old is punished with one to five years in prison and a penalty of 200 to 500 dirhams.