Two men are sentenced to death in Somalia for gang-rape and murder of 14-year-old girl

A firing squad enforces the death penalty in Somalia

The Court of First Instance in the semi-autonomous Somalia state of Puntland sentenced the two men to death.

The court heard that the men confessed to kidnapping the young girl before raping and murdering her, according to Somali Affairs.

newsinsieIn recent months, there has been an increase in the number of such cases across Somalia.

In September, 19-year-old Hamdi Mohamed Farah was gang-raped by at least 11 men and thrown to her death off a six-floor building in the Somali capital Mogadishu, according to local media.

The student was reportedly invited to the location by a man she thought was a friend.

Police said 11 suspects have been arrested and efforts to track and identify further suspects are ongoing.

The brutal case sparked outrage and protests in Somalia. Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Salad, chairman of Somalia's religious council, demanded the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Earlier this year in February, two men who gang-raped and killed a 12-year-old girl in Somalia were publicly executed by a firing squad chosen by the victim's father.

Aisha Ilyaas Aden was abducted at a market and then raped and strangled to death near her home in Galkayo, Puntland region, in February last year.

Abdifatah Abdirahman Warsame and Abdishakur Mohamed Dige were both shot in Bosaso town square, on Somalia's north coast, after they were found guilty of the shocking attack.

The girl's father, Illyaas Aden, told the BBC he appointed the men's executioners and asked them for forgiveness by phone before they were killed.