A 39-year-old man is remanded at Torit Prison for defiling a 14-year-old girl (names withheld) in Torit’s Ingauro residential area on Thursday last week.
Major Justine Kleopus Takuru, the Eastern Equatoria State police spokesperson said that the accused requested the victim from her grandmother to help look after his children while he attended to his expectant wife in the hospital.
“This man went outside the home and returned at 8 pm when his children were sleeping and proceeded to use and defile the girl,” he added.
Major Takuru said the police received the information early morning the next day, “And we hurried with the form 8 which we sent to the hospital. We thank the medical personnel in the hospital, they confirmed that the girl had been defiled.”
“Our colleagues in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), with the help of the parents of the girl, hurried and we arrested the suspect. He was with us in police custody but we forwarded him to the main prison on remand because the cases of defilement always don’t delay, we send them to court directly,” he confirmed.
The police officer said a similar case was reported in the Ifwanyak area last week but the suspect managed to escape.
Ocheng Philip Clement, the secretary-general for Civil Society Network for Eastern Equatoria State (CSNEES), said there is a rise in rape cases in the town.
“What is needed urgently is to examine the perpetrator and take him to the hospital for checkup and to confirm their status. Also to immediately treat the victims. Rape cases are becoming alarming and I don’t know the cause. To arrest the situation, the responsible people in the community have to work together. The neighbors, parents, and relatives have to be involved. We are losing young girls,” Ocheng said.
He insisted that people found guilty of rape must face the full force of the law to discourage such happenings.