'The rape of under-age girls in this city is becoming widespread and alarming,' Suleiman Abba, Kano's deputy police chief told reporters.

Some rapists mistakenly believe child rape is a ritual that can lead to instant riches, while others think they can cure themselves of Aids and various sexually-transmitted diseases by having sex with a virgin, said Ibrahim Abdullahi, spokesman for the body tasked with improving morals in Kano state.

'This is a sad development which requires the combined effort of the government, security agencies and the public to combat,' Aminuddeen Abubakar, an Islamic scholar in the city told reporters outside his mosque.

'People rape small girls ... because their cult leaders tell them that is a precondition of becoming rich. It is a daily occurrence,' Mr Abubakar said.

In the last six months of 2007 the police recorded 54 reported cases of child rape and made 60 arrests in connection with them.

'This is a radical increase compared to 36 cases we recorded in the first six months of 2007. In some cases the victims are gang-raped,' Mr Abba said.

He said the suspects are usually between the ages of 45 and 70 while their victims are mostly girls of between three and 11 years.

In one incident a man of 70 raped a toddler of three.

'We have cases of young men raping minors but the number pales into significance compared to the number of cases involving older men,' Mr Abba told reporters, adding that the cases reported are only the tip of the iceberg.

'Many cases are never reported because parents want to save the honour of their daughters and protect their family from embarrassment,' he said.

The desire to the hide the crime is all the more tragic given that some of the children require reconstructive surgery and get infected with the disease their rapist was misguidedly trying to cure, health workers say.

The deputy police chief said the increase in child rapes became noticeable in 2004, more pronounced in 2005 and 'alarming' in 2007.

Abdullahi of the Societal Reorientation Directorate said the little girls most at risk are those who hawk goods such as kola nuts on the city's streets.

The Islamic sharia legal system that has been in place in Kano since 2001 prescribes the death penalty for rape.

For the purposes of rape an under-age victim is one who has not yet reached puberty.

The unwillingness of parents to press charges against suspected rapists for fear of social stigma is the major hurdle in bringing them to justice.

'We are stuck ... we can't prosecute without witnesses and the parents are usually not ready to go to court and testify. Without witnesses the case is a dead one and you have to free the suspect. And that hurts,' Mr Abba said. -- AFP