Four men were arrested on Wednesday in Bur Payam of Torit County in Eastern Equatoria State for killing their prospective in-law in a dispute over bride price, police confirmed.
Maj. Justine Kleopus Takuru, the police spokesman in Eastern Equatoria State, told Radio Tamazuj that the deceased, William Ofere, 44, had paid some bride price to the family of his intended bride but that she was still staying at her parents’ home pending the completion of bride price payments.
In what amounted to a love triangle, the engaged lady eloped with another man.
“The family of the deceased had paid 24 goats to the relatives of this girl but this girl still stays in their home. She was not officially given to the husband because the dowries are not complete,” Maj. Takuru explained. “While she was in their home she went away with another man and this created an issue.”
The police mouthpiece said that on hearing that the lady had eloped with another man, the family of Ofere, who had paid the bride price went to the family of the lady and demanded their bride price back.
“The family of the lady then asked her whom she loved and she insisted that she loved the man who had paid the bride price and that they were still in a relationship. She said ‘even if I went with this other man, I am still in love with the first guy and that was the cause of everything,” Maj. Takuru narrated.
“So the relatives of the lady went back to the man who had paid bride price and told him that their daughter was still in love with him and demanded more bride price. This guy responded positively, took them to the kraal, and showed them a bull which they took,” According to Maj. Takuru “Rumors started circulating that he was not the owner of the bull, so they captured this guy from the bush where he had gone to cut wood. They told him that he had deceived them.”
According to the police, in what amounted to kidnap and illegal detention, they tied William Ofere up and took him to their home where they beat him to death.
“One of them is called Jackson Oburak and the others are Ocheng, Odong Pilot, and Oliang. These are the suspects and we have spoken with the chief and they will be brought to Torit today (Wednesday),” Maj. Takuru said.
“The girls of these days are unpredictable. In this case, she was with someone and again she went ahead with another person. The family should have just returned the bride price to the first man and taken from the second man. This should not take much time, it should have been resolved by chiefs. The problem is that these things happen without the knowledge of chiefs,” he added.
Meanwhile, the executive director for Women Agency for Progress Organization (WAPO), Flora Sebit condemned such traditional practices and called on the population to use peaceful means to settle marriage issues.
“It is a right for people to get their due but if you use force, you will not achieve your goal. We need to use peaceful means to get our rights. There are things in our Otuho culture that need to be abandoned,” Sebit said. “Someone should be brought before the law if he is not a responsible person. The law has to take its course so that it is known whether he was really beaten to death or he had other sicknesses.”
She advised the people not to use violence in marital issues, even if their daughter eloped because murder is criminal.
In the last few months Torit County, in particular, and other neighboring villages have witnessed a spike in killings related to bride price disputes.