As many as 20 women killed themselves in the besieged city of Aleppo in order to avoid being raped by soldiers of the Syrian Army. One woman, a nurse, reportedly left a suicide note that has been recovered now.
"I am committing suicide because the Day of Resurrection has taken place in Aleppo and I don't think Hell-Fire will be worse than this....I am committing suicide not due to no reason but because I do not want several members of the Assad Regime to savour raping me while just yesterday they were afraid to say the word Aleppo," the woman wrote in her suicide note.
The note was reportedly addressed to religious leaders and the Syrian opposition. This report follows other reports of women committing suicide in order to avoid being raped and sexually abused by government soldiers who have taken over the devastated city, the Independent reported.
"I am one of the women in Aleppo who will soon be raped in just moments...there are no more weapons or men that can stand between us and the animals who are about to come called the country's army," she added.
"This morning 20 women committed suicide in order not to be raped...Men, women and children were being cooked alive by barrel bombs dropped right where they stood. Women and children – their screams can be heard underneath the rubble," Abdullah Othman, head of the Consultative Council in the Levant Front – an Aleppo rebel group, was quoted as saying by The News.
Amid reports of rising civilian casualties and others injured and trapped in Aleppo, reports also suggest that the Syrian Army soldiers are moving door-to-door to carry out summary executions with lists of families linked to terrorists. Since it suddenly gave way to the advance of the Syrian Army, roughly 250,000 people are considered to be at risk in eastern districts of the Syrian city.
"People are saying the troops have lists of families of fighters and are asking them if they had sons with the terrorists. They are then either left or shot and left to die," said Abu Malek al-Shamali in Seif al-Dawla, one of the last rebel-held districts.
