Somalia executes woman convicted of abusing, killing 14-year-old domestic worker

Mogadishu (HOL) — Puntland authorities on Tuesday executed a woman convicted of murdering a 14-year-old girl after the victim’s family chose retributive justice under Islamic law, marking a rare application of the death penalty against a woman in the semi-autonomous region.

The execution was carried out in Galkacyo, a divided city in central Somalia, after courts found Hodan Mohamud guilty of killing Sabirin Saylaan Abdille, a minor who had been working as a domestic helper.

Officials said the sentence was imposed under qisas, an Islamic legal principle that allows the family of a murder victim to demand the execution of the perpetrator instead of accepting financial compensation.

Judges ruled that Sabirin died as a result of prolonged and severe abuse. Security officials said video footage recovered from Mohamud’s mobile phone showed acts of extreme violence against the girl and was central to securing the conviction.

Puntland authorities said the execution followed a standing decree in the Mudug region requiring the application of Islamic law in murder cases.

The measure was introduced to stem recurring killings in Galkacyo, which is split between Puntland and neighboring Galmudug administrations and has long been plagued by insecurity.

Regional officials described the case as the first in over a decade in which a woman has been executed in Puntland under a retaliatory sentence for murder.

The last known executions took place in 2013, when authorities put to death 13 members of the al-Shabab militant group including one woman for their role in the assassination of Dr. Ahmed Haji Abdirahman, a well-known Islamic scholar.

Sabirin’s killing last year triggered widespread public outrage across Puntland. Activists, elders and community leaders called for accountability and greater protections for children and domestic workers, a group often vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Source: hiiraan.com, Staff, February 3, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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