23-year-old man avoids prison in Azerbaijan after statutory rape of 13-year-old

A 23-year-old man has avoided prison for having sexual intercourse with an underage girl after a judge claimed the birth of his child by his 13-year-old victim was a mitigating circumstance.

According to the pro-government media outlet Okhu.Az, the 23-year-old and 13-year-old were engaged, with their wedding set to take place when the girl turned 18. However, the two had sexual intercourse following their engagement, leading to the girl becoming pregnant. Upon learning of the girl’s pregnancy, the two families organised a wedding party at home, which was attended by close relatives.

Okhu.Az reported that it wasn’t until the girl went for a medical check-up, and doctors reported her condition to the police, that the authorities became involved.

Following this, a criminal case was opened against the 21-year-old man.

During the ensuing trial, however, the 13-year-old girl and her family reportedly refused to cooperate with the investigation. The judge also considered the birth of the child to be a mitigating circumstance. Therefore, the judge granted him a suspended sentence under police monitoring.

‘If she gives voluntary consent, but does not understand the essence, this should be considered rape’

Azerbaijani human rights lawyer Fariz Namazli told OC Media that the girl’s pregnancy should not be considered a mitigating circumstance.

‘On the contrary, it should be considered an aggravating circumstance, since it entails serious consequences’, he said, emphasising that ‘sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years of age without their consent is a criminal offense’.

According to Namazli, there are different articles that can be applied in such cases depending on whether consent is given or not.

If someone has sexual intercourse with a minor between the ages of 12–14 without consent, ‘such a person shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of 15 to 20 years, with or without deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years’, Namazli said.

If the minor gave consent, then the offender ‘shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to six years, with or without the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to three years’.

In any case, Namazli says, ‘sexual intercourse with a person under 14 years of age, even with their consent, entails criminal liability’.

‘In this case, attention should be paid to the form in which she gives consent to this relationship. Even if she gives voluntary consent, but does not understand the essence, this should be considered rape’.

According to the State Statistical Committee, in 2023, there were over 1,700 women who gave birth in the 15–17 age group. Of these, the majority (over 1,600) had their first child. However, over 100 women from this age group gave birth to their second child, while 11 gave birth to their third child, and four women gave birth to their fourth child.

It is uncertain how many of these occurred in underage marriages, given that the majority of such marriages are not reported to the relevant state agencies.

Following the publication of Okhu.Az’s article, Mehriban Zaynalova, the chair of a women’s shelter in Baku called Tamiz Dünya (Clean World), called on the state agencies to pay attention to the 13-year-old girl’s situation, given that the man did not face any punishment.

According to feminist activist Vafa Naghi, in 2021, she learned about a 13-year-old girl from the Neftchala District who was raped by her aunt’s husband.

‘After my complaint, the girl was settled in the Tamiz Dünya shelter. But after one year, she was sent back to this village. The chair of the shelter said that she wanted to go back’, Naghi said.

OC Media reached out to a spokesperson from the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children Affairs, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

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