UNITED NATIONS, Nov.4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Tuesday deplored Somalia prosecutors for sentencing to death by stoning a 13-year-old rape victim.

    According to media reports, Aisha Duhulow was stoned to death in the southern port city of Kismayo on October 27. She pleaded for her life before she was forced into a hole, buried up to her neck and then pelted with stones by some 50 men until she died in front of more than 1,000 people.

    Reports indicate that she had been raped by three men while walking to visit her grandmother in the capital Mogadishu. After the attack, prosecutors accused Aisha of adultery and sentenced her to death in August.

    "This is a tragic and deplorable incident," said Christian Balslev-Olesen, UNICEF Representative for Somalia. "A child was victimized twice, first by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible for administering justice."

    UNICEF said the incident underscores the vulnerability of girls and women in the war-wracked African nation, where sexual and gender-based violence is deteriorating.

    "Authorities and institutions of civil society have a role to play in supporting and protecting the rights of every child," Mr. Balslev-Olesen said, noting that this killing reflects the great effort that must be undertaken to protect the rights of Somali girls and women.