While political crises and electoral campaigns dominate Iraq’s political scene, local media outlets have discretely released the story of the horrifying gang rape of seven-year-old Samah Ali Hussein in the poverty-stricken region of al-Washash, west of the capital.

With heart-wrenching details, eyewitnesses and relatives of the child recount the incident that took place on Feb. 27, when three young men raped Hussein near a police station.

According to witnesses, Hussein is a student just beginning her education. Her father passed away and she lives with her mother at her grandfather’s home. When she left school one day and headed toward a nearby kiosk to buy some candy, three young men lured Hussein to them and proceeded to rape her, one after the other.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, a spokesman from the Ministry of Interior, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan, affirmed that “the child’s mother and aunt learned of the rape two days after the incident. When Hussein recounted the details of what had happened, they immediately reported the case to the police.”