Evil Uncle SA’d Her Until Her Spine Fell Out, People Said She Deserved It
The tragic case of Heaven Awat (also referred to as Faven) represents a deeply harrowing intersection of childhood innocence, the brutal aftermath of civil conflict, and a systemic failure of justice that sparked international outrage. Born in September 2016, Heaven was a seven-year-old girl living in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, whose name signified “radiance, light, and blessing.” Her mother, Abecullesh, worked as a dedicated nurse, and the highlight of Heaven’s daily routine was eagerly waiting by the door to embrace her mother after long shifts.
However, Heaven’s short life was severely disrupted by the brutal geopolitical landscape surrounding her. The northern region of Ethiopia, particularly Tigray and Amhara, was ravaged by a brutal civil war from 2020 to 2022—with residual rebellions extending into 2023 and beyond—pitting the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). This conflict resulted in mass displacement, thousands of civilian casualties, and deep-seated ethnic polarization. Because Heaven’s father was of Tigrayan ethnicity, he was imprisoned by the federal government and later fled to Tigray upon his release, leaving Abecullesh to raise Heaven and her three-year-old sister alone in an unstable environment.
Seeking stability, Abecullesh rented a home from Getnet Bedane, a landlord married to a 15-year-old relative of the family. Believing they were in a safe and familiar environment, Abecullesh left her daughters in the care of their aunt on August 1, 2023. On that day, Heaven excused herself to use the bathroom and never returned. Getnet Bedane lured the seven-year-old girl to an isolated area and subjected her to an unimaginably horrific sexual assault and murder. To prevent her from screaming, Getnet forced sand down her throat, which mixed with body fluids to form a cement-like paste.
The sheer brutality of the physical assault resulted in catastrophic internal trauma, causing her spine to partially separate and protrude from her body. To conceal the crime, Getnet strangled Heaven with one hand, doused her body with a bucket of bleach to erase forensic evidence, and slashed her with a razor. He then intentionally placed her body beneath a balcony on the front doorstep where neighborhood children played, attempting to stage the murder as an accidental fall. Tragically, it was Heaven’s three-year-old sister who discovered her body. Heaven was rushed to Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, where doctors, nurses, and staff were reduced to tears by the horrific nature of her injuries, which instantly disproved any narrative of an accidental fall.
The subsequent quest for justice exposed severe systemic deficiencies within local law enforcement and the broader judicial framework. Although Getnet was initially arrested, he quickly escaped police custody during a chaotic jailbreak orchestrated by local Amhara militias who were raiding the station to free their own detained members. Following his escape, Getnet actively hunted and threatened Abecullesh and her surviving daughter with deadly force, forcing the grieving mother to abandon her nursing career and constantly relocate to evade him.
It took nearly a month of relentless advocacy by Abecullesh for local authorities to prioritize and re-arrest Getnet. In the subsequent trial before the High Court of Bahir Dar, Getnet was sentenced to only 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The court controversially justified this lenient sentence by concluding that the child died from the pressure of the violence and strangulation because she was too young to withstand the rape, rather than classifying the act as a premeditated capital offense worthy of life imprisonment or the death penalty.
This lenient sentencing triggered a massive wave of public outrage both domestically and internationally. Organizations like the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association publicly condemned the verdict, arguing that the depravity of the crime against a minor legally and morally demanded the absolute maximum penalty. Ergogie Tesfaye, Ethiopia’s Minister of Women and Social Affairs, publicly expressed her condolences and pledged to collaborate with judicial authorities to challenge the sentence, while also highlighting partnerships with UNICEF to digitize and improve child case management systems across local neighborhoods (kebeles).
On social media platforms like TikTok, the hashtag #JusticeForHeaven viralized globally. Activists like Yordanos Bezabih championed the movement, and public figures like Cardi B amplified the cause, driving signatures on global petitions past 300,000. The case also spotlighted grim statistical realities regarding systemic violence in the region, noting that one in three Ethiopian women experience physical, emotional, or sexual violence, and approximately 65% have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).
A candlelit vigil organized in Addis Ababa’s Meskel Square faced government resistance, as federal law enforcement forcibly dispersed the hundreds of mourners who gathered at Groove Garden Walk. Undeterred, a resilient group relocated to a quiet space to honor Heaven and established organized digital networks via WhatsApp to systematically combat gender-based violence.
The digital legacy of the case also exposed deep geopolitical fractures and severe deficiencies in social media content moderation. While millions rallied for justice, some political commentators and content creators used the tragedy to fuel ethnic division. A highly controversial activist, Moda Corano, published incendiary videos arguing that because of Heaven’s mixed Tigrayan heritage, she and her mother deserved their fates—a statement that provoked widespread backlash and resulted in the mass reporting and subsequent removal of his profile.
Furthermore, a study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in March 2025 revealed that malicious actors easily bypassed TikTok’s automated hate speech moderation filters by posting threats and vitriol in Amharic. Because Amharic is classified as a low-resource language in algorithmic engineering, automated moderation systems consistently failed to flag inflammatory content that would have been instantly blocked in European languages. This loophole allowed severe cyberbullying and death threats to target activists fighting for Heaven’s cause. In response to the backlash generated by these findings, TikTok eventually established an African advisory council that included an Amharic-speaking Ethiopian professor to address these gaps.
Despite the initial global uproar, media attention inevitably waned by the end of 2024. Getnet appealed his sentence, and while judicial proceedings were adjourned until late 2024, conclusive public updates remained sparse. Getnet’s wife continued to defend him publicly on camera, maintaining the false narrative that the death was an accident. Exhausted by constant security threats from the perpetrator’s family and the lack of comprehensive state protection, Abecullesh eventually retreated entirely from the public eye to protect her surviving five-year-old daughter.
Nevertheless, Heaven’s memory endures through cultural memorials, including the tribute song “Heaven Awat” by artist Zayn Outlander and the track “Galaw” by the Wings Music Band, the latter performed before public officials on International Women’s Day to champion children’s rights. As regional instability and the threat of further conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea persist, Heaven’s story remains a permanent, haunting symbol of the critical need to protect vulnerable children and eradicate the culture of legal impunity surrounding gender-based and wartime violence.
