A school girl identified as Achala Akayak, 8, drowned in Ilangi stream in Torit town in Eastern Equatoria State on Thursday.
The tragic incident happened when the girl, together with her colleagues, were taking a bath in the stream on their way home after allegedly being sent away from school over failure to pay school fees.
According to authorities, the body of the deceased was discovered two hours after she drowned. She was later buried at her father’s home in Ogwasu residential area.
Okoyok John, the chief of Ogwasu residential area, said the incident occurred at around 10:35 on Thursday morning. He said the deceased was a primary two pupil at Torit Model Primary School.
“This girl was coming from Torit Model Primary School and they were sent away from school because of fees and she was moving with two other colleagues,” he explained. “On reaching the stream of Ilangi, they tried to bathe and she jumped into the deep part of the stream and it was later discovered that she drowned and died. She was called Achala Akayak and was 8 years old.”
For his part, First Lieutenant David Lokai Andrea, the assistant director for fire safety and disaster management at the civil defense in Eastern Equatoria State, confirmed the incident and urged parents to take care of their young ones.
He decried the lack of sufficient civil defense officers in the State to manage such incidents but revealed plans to conduct awareness on the dangers of running streams and rivers.
“The incident happened at the Bridge of Ilangi. We went to file a report but we found the family was still mourning. Such incidents are rare and as civil defense, we are going to create awareness,” he said. “We do not have enough personnel to be deployed to mitigate such incidents and I am appealing to parents to escort their young ones to and from school because many children are not aware of the dangers of using streams or rivers.”
Meanwhile, John Juma Mauro, the headteacher of Torit Model Primary School expressed grief for the untimely death of their pupil. He however denied allegations of sending the pupils home due to school fees, saying the school girls did not reach the school.
“What happened has shocked us a lot. These children were not sent out of school and returned without reaching the school. This is according to the investigation we got from there even when we reached the funeral,” he said. “We are not happy with what happened to this child. 75 percent of our learners have not paid school fees and we are not sending them out of school. If there is any problem, we always talk to parents because children are not the problem.”