An Egyptian criminal court handed a death sentence to a man accussed of raping a 20-month-old child in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya in March in the case commonly known as "the diaper kid."



The verdict can still be appealed before the Court of Cassation.



The incident sparked anger across the country, prompting the prosecution to demand the maximum penalty against the convict according to the law.



The 35-year-old convict was arrested by police on the same day the incident took place and confessed to the crime, prosecutors said.



According to investigation in the case, the victim's neighbour kidnapped her as she was playing in front of her house in Belqas village, taking her to a secluded area and raping her.



The child was later found by residents and taken to Belqas Central Hospital, where she received emergency surgery for vaginal bleeding. She was later released from hospital.



In March, Egyptian authorities executed a 22-year-old man convicted of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Upper Egypt's Minya governorate in 2014.



The most well-known case of the rape and murder of a child happened in the coastal governorate of Port-Said in 2013, when two minors kidnapped, raped and killed five-year-old Zeina Arafa, provoking rage and public outcry across the country.



The convicts in this case were sentenced by a criminal court to 20 years in prison. The court apologised to the public for not imposing capital punishment, citing Egyptian law which forbids issuing the death penalty to people younger than 18 years old.





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