Authorities in Ikotos County in Eastern Equatoria State have said that an 8-year-old girl was brutally defiled by an unknown man along the Kamosin stream on Sunday.
The girl had gone to collect wild coconuts for food when the incident happened.
Warrant officer Gabriel Akom Arok, the acting police inspector in Ikotos County said, “This girl was raped on 30 May and we have not found the suspect up to now. She has been referred to Isohe Hospital. She is 8 years old and we found her in a terrible condition. She is torn and the blood continues to flow. As security, we are monitoring the situation closely to arrest the perpetrator to face the court.”
Akom said the girl went from the Momoriah area to search for coconuts with her friends along Kamosin road and was defiled there at around noon.
“You know in this country, nobody listens to law actors, every day we speak, even the UN they talk but the minds of these people do not listen. We only pray that the suspect is arrested to face the law,” Warrant officer Akom said.
He also said a lorry was also shot along Ikotos-Tsertenya road on the same day but no casualty was reported.
Medical authorities in Ikotos County confirmed that the girl was in critical condition and was referred to Isohe for further medical attention.
“It is true, there is a girl who was found raped and defiled in Kamosin by unknown men and currently she is under treatment in Isohe hospital because currently, Ikotos is a primary health care center,” Lope Iswangai, the county health director said. “So, we referred her because she was strangled on the neck. She is also badly off and continues bleeding. Because of that, we sent her to the hospital for the bleeding to be stopped.”
The Ikotos County paramount chief, John Odongi, fears that such negative practices will spoil the reputation of the community.
“These kinds of things are not good, we don’t want such to happen, it is very bad and will even spoil our reputation and if this criminal is arrested he should face the law,” Chief Odongi said.
A youth activist and the executive director of Youth Empowerment Organization (YEO), Mwaka Daniel, described the incident as unfortunate and urged the local authorities to intervene.
“It is very unfortunate that we young people have turned into something else. This is something that never used to happen. Raping a very small girl like that is very unbelievable. I believe that the state and county authorities should try to identify and hold that person responsible who carried out such an unspeakable act,” he said.