Let's entertain the lies by the rapists's defence team (his self-styled elders) for a minute.
They are claiming that he "married" her.
1. Since when does Islam allow girls to be married without permission from her family? Isn't it true that only Adult women, divorcees at that, can waive Islamic rights pertaining weddings/marriage? Someone correct me if I am wrong.
2. Have you ever met an 8 year old girl that had her period? I say this, because those who fight to marry children use this as a marker to announce adulthood. So, no period means what? It means she was a child when he raped her.
The scary precedent that this will set:
If these people successfully argue that children can consent to marriage, children can consent to sex, without parental permission. Does that not mean, that Somalis will send their daughters to mosque/school one day and then find out years later, that some adult man was raping them and when he is arrested, he will claim "THAT'S MY WIFE"