Five defendants were sentenced to a combined 52 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor in 2022. Known as the “11-year-old girl,” the victim was sexually abused multiple times, including during and after being placed under institutional care, exposing the failure of Kosovo authorities to protect minors.
The Basic Court of Prishtina sentenced five defendants to a combined 52 years in prison for their involvement in the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in 2022—now around 15 years old—in the second wave of convictions in a case that has exposed a pattern of abuse, and revealed multiple perpetrators and systemic failures in Kosovo’s shild protection systems.
On March 10, 2026, the court sentenced the defendant, known only by the initials B.Rr., to 12 years imprisonment and the four other defendants, D.Rr., F.S., M.S., and M.R., to 10 years in prison each.
Around two years ago, on April 23, 2024, the court sentenced this group to a total of 62 years in prison for the June 2022 assault. That decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeals, which ordered a retrial.
In total, 13 individuals are accused in connection with assaults against the same victim in June and August of 2022.
First incident exposed repeated abuse
Kosovo Police. Photo: BIRN/Afrim Ejupi
In August 2022, the Kosovo Police received a report that an 11-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by multiple individuals in a park in Prishtina. Several suspects, including minors, were arrested. According to the prosecution, the assault was recorded and the footage shared among the accused.
The case file shows that on August 27, 2022, between 18:00 and 20:00, in a park in the Arbëria neighbourhood, minors G.J. and Xh.S. encountered the victim and began harassing her verbally before sexually assaulting her at different locations.
After the case became public, protests were organised nationwide, demanding accountability and resignations.
Further investigations revealed that the girl had also been sexually abused in June 2022, with multiple individuals suspected of involvement.
On December 21, 2022, the Basic Prosecution of Prishtina filed an indictment against eight adults in connection with the June 2022 assault.
In a separate indictment, five other individuals were charged for the August 2022 assault.
On May 31, 2024, the first group of defendants in the August 2022 assault received a combined 35-year sentence. Ekrem Rexhepi was sentenced to 14 years, while the minors G.R., G.J., and Xh.S. received 7 years each. The case against the fifth defendant, Shkëlqim Kamberi, was separate.
After an appeal, on November 12, 2024, the Court of Appeals, reduced Rexhepi’s sentence to 10 years and the minors’ sentences to 5 years each.
Questions over the state’s failure to protect children
Palace of Justice. Photo: Atdhe Mulla
Apart from the 2022 assault cases, the minor had also been abused in two other cases in 2023 and 2025.
In June 2023, the child was reported to have been abused sexually for the third time inside the shelter for victims of human trafficking by another minor, who was also residing there.
Meanwhile, in February 2025, the same victim, (then 14 years old), was sexually assaulted again by multiple individuals at a motel on the outskirts of Prishtina, where she was employed.
The incident reportedly occurred on February 1, 2025, at a motel along the Prishtina–Mitrovica highway in Obilic. According to an investigative file obtained by KALLXO.com, the minor was sexually assaulted and allegedly trafficked, by the motel staff.
Four motel employees were arrested: a 36-year-old receptionist and three cleaners aged 21–23. On February 27, 2025, the Basic Prosecution Office requested pre-trial detention for the suspects V.A., P.Sh., L.A., and G.H.