The defense team of Agany Kut Achuil who deliberately blinded his teenage daughter on Monday asked the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Court which is hearing the case in Juba to refer it to a customary court in Tonj, Warrap State.
Mary Akuot Agany, a minor was intentionally blinded by her father in Abiook Village in Tonj East County, Warrap State. Kut allegedly took his daughter to a forest on 2 April and pricked her eyes because she was wayward, joined the wrong peers, eloped when she was 13, and brought shame to the family.
During the first hearing of the case on Monday, the court listened to the prosecution’s opening statement followed by a presentation of the case by an investigator who filed the case in Tonj. The prosecution then formally charged Agany Kut Achuil with two counts; attempted murder and gender-based violence.
The prosecution’s legal counsel, Deng Juma Rehan, said the court listed Kut’s crimes as grievous bodily harm with a dangerous object, attempted murder and violation against a child, and gender-based violence.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday shortly after the end of the court session, Ukongo Benson Athia, a member of Kut’s defense team, said the court is competent to hear the case but that they want the case transferred to Tonj where their client has many witnesses.
“The court is competent but the location of the venue of the court should be in Tonj South and this is what we are fighting for. The accused has several witnesses there and they are significant to the fair process of this case and court process,” he said. “So, we are pushing that this court (hearing) has to move its venue to Tonj and that application was rejected and we want to appeal against it.”
Ukongo also said they want bail for their client.
“He constitutionally has a right to bail so that he prepares his defense and you cannot have a trial when somebody is in detention,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prof. Anthony Ayok Chol, Kut’s lead defense counsel, said they had seen a lot of loopholes in the case and insisted that the victim (Mary Akuot Agany) joined criminal gangs and eloped yet her father wanted to marry her off.
“The mother of the girl is not happy with the father but in the tradition of us the Dinka of the Rek Section, if there is a problem, she can go to her uncles who will then call the father and discuss the matter. She did not do this and instead, a crowd of women have now come up here in court and yet they do not have any locus or standing in court,” he charged. “We are going to make sure that if these proceedings are to go on with the same or any other judge, those people should not speak in the court because they have no standing in the court and can only make an application to the court that they are Amicus curiae, meaning they are friends of the court. And we can challenge that application but they have not done that and just come here. Besides, they are accusing us of using delaying tactics. We are not using delaying tactics and they brought the case late.”
Prof. Ayok said it took the prosecution seven months to bring the case to court because the victim was taken to Egypt and certain people wanted to draw sympathy.
“It is them who took seven months while doing theatrics and sending the woman (Mary Akuot) to Egypt while mobilizing the whole world that Dinka are very bad people who pluck out the eyes of their children,” he said. “Dinka can even kill a daughter who is refusing to get married. They can even open the thighs of the woman for the man (groom) to go through. They have different systems and customs and the way we resolve this thing is through community discussions.”