Warning: This article contains shocking details about rape and sexual abuse

The brutal rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl has caused outrage in Ethiopia. Many believe that the sentence against the attacker was too lenient.

Heaven Awot was sexually abused, mutilated and killed by her mother’s landlord, Getnet Baye, in the northwestern city of Bahir Dar in the Amhara region last August.

Getnet was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The case attracted a lot of attention after he recently filed an appeal. The trial has now been adjourned until October.

The girl’s mother, Abekyelesh Adeba, told the BBC that the loss of her child had left her “lifeless”.

More than 200,000 people have so far signed an online petition calling for a review of the verdict “to take into account the seriousness of the crime” and to offer support to the grieving mother.

One of the country’s largest women’s rights groups, the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), said in a statement that it considered the sentence to be “very lenient.” “The murder alone should have been enough to sentence him to life imprisonment or death… It is particularly repulsive and outrageous when such a cruel crime is committed against children.”

High-ranking government officials also joined the chorus of criticism. For example, Ergogie Tesfaye, Minister for Women and Social Affairs, wrote on her Facebook page that the crimes committed against Heaven were “inhumane” and announced that her office would continue to pursue the case together with those involved.

The brutal attack has sparked heated debate about the safety of vulnerable women and young girls in Ethiopia.

According to a Human Rights Watch report published in May, conflict-related sexual violence “has reached alarming levels in Ethiopia.”

Some believe that the failure to hold perpetrators accountable contributes to the high number of crimes.

Thousands of women and young girls are Reportedly raped during a devastating two-year war in Tigraythe northernmost region of the country.

Before Heaven was raped and killed, she saw her family fall apart because of the war.

Her father, a member of the Tigrayan ethnic group, was imprisoned for months at the height of the conflict. No charges were ever brought against him.

After his release, he left Amhara – where he felt he continued to face hostility and suspicion – and went to Tigray.

Heaven’s mother, Mrs. Abekyelesh, a nurse, had to raise her and her younger sister alone.

Because she was on friendly terms with her landlord, who lived with his family in the same building, Ms Abekyelesh told the BBC that she never felt threatened by her children.

She was related to the landlord’s wife, which made her feel even better.

When Heaven was attacked, Mrs. Abekyelesh was at work and the girl’s aunt was looking after her.

Her aunt says Heaven told her she was going to the bathroom and didn’t come back. The aunt wondered why she took so long and said she looked for the girl but couldn’t find her. She believes Getnet kidnapped her.

Later that day, Heaven’s mutilated body was found outside her home, with obvious signs of strangulation. Her mother told the BBC she believes the attacker had dumped the body there.

“If our children are not safe at home, where else should we go?” she asks. “Should we stop working and spend all our time with them? How are we going to feed them?”

In the months that followed, Mrs. Abekyelesh had to endure additional torture in her grief over the loss of her murdered daughter.

Fearing for her own safety and that of her other daughter, she had to go into hiding after the attacker – Getnet – escaped from custody.

He escaped from the Bahir Dar police station last August, where he was being held, after local Amhara militias fighting the army broke into the facility to free their fellow fighters held there.

Getnet was now at large and searching for Heaven’s mother with a gun. He was not arrested again for almost a month.

She says she felt the security forces were hesitant to arrest him and she had to beg them to arrest him again. All the while, Getnet threatened her.

Ms. Abekyelesh felt insecure and changed her place of residence and place of work repeatedly in the following years.

Ms Abekyelesh feels the justice system has failed her and does not believe the 25-year prison sentence given to Getnet was sufficient.

Her greater concern, however, is that he wins his appeal and is released early.

“I have lost my sky… I am lifeless,” she tells the BBC.

But as a health worker, she says she knows of countless other women and young girls who have been sexually abused.

“I know there are so many heavens.”

If you are affected by the issues in this story and need support, you can talk to a doctor or an organization that offers support.

In the UK, you can get help from the BBC Action LineFor more information on the assistance available in many countries, see interaction.