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(Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The rape of a pregnant 16-year-old girl two weeks ago may go unpunished, because the alleged rapist is not in detention, a human rights group claims.

July 8, a 16-year-old married and pregnant girl was raped at knifepoint in Marneuli, a predominantly Azeri town 40km south of the Georgian capital.

The victim’s family have accused a 47-year-old man who is a relative and lives nearby of being the perpetrator.

Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organization, said the investigation into the rape is ineffective. After more than two weeks, the perpetrator is still not detained and there is a risk that he will run away and avoid criminal responsibility, the group wrote.

But a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Internal Affairs (MIA) told us that law enforcement bodies have placed the alleged perpetrator under supervision to prevent him from going into hiding.

The case is being investigated pursuant to article 137 of the Criminal Code about rape, the spokesperson clarified.

An examination has been carried out and investigators are now waiting for the results from the National Forensic Bureau.

DFWatch called the forensic bureau and were told that the results of the complex examination are not yet known and the procedure will finish in about a week.

MIA doesn’t have statistics over sexual violence against minors, but according to official MIA data, sexual crime committed against both adults and minors in 2014 was 131 — 41 of which were rapes. In 2015, there were 274 cases and 41 of them were rape.

According to MIA, 80 cases were solved in 2014, and 189 in 2105.

Deputy Public Defender Eka Skhiladze told DFWatch that there are many errors in cases like this. It is often a problem to identify such problems, especially if it concerns minors, she told us. The government is not able to handle sexual violance cases; victims aren’t rehabilitated and the cases aren’t timely and effectively investigated, Skhiladze explained.

She said the Ombudsman’s Office doesn’t have data on violence against minors, but according to data they were provided by MIA, there were 80 cases in 2014 when sexual inviolability were violated in cases involving minors, and in 70 percent of these cases an investigation was launched.