Police in Obbo Payam of Magwi County in Eastern Equatoria State has arrested a man for shooting and injuring his cousin sister using a bow and arrow over the weekend.
Achayo Florence, 22, was shot by John Otto, 28, for inviting people to pray at their home on Saturday evening in an area called Kenya 1 in Obbo.
Otto, according to the Police authorities, came home on Saturday evening and found people gathered at his home for evening prayers and picked his bow and arrow and aimed to shoot at the pastor but missed and instead shot and injured his cousin sister, Achayo.
Reports say the man had warned his family members several times against conducting evening prayers at the home. Achayo is now admitted at Obbo Primary Health Care Center.
The police Inspector in Obbo Payam, Lt. Michael Koko, said, “I heard about this issue. He (Otto) said that he went to the village to cultivate simsim (sesame) and upon his return, he found out that his daughters, sisters, and cousin sister were said to be moving around at night. He said he tried to stop them from the practice but they did not heed.”
He added: “Otto said that on top roaming at night, the ladies brought in people of the Church to his home. He confessed that he took some alcohol and wanted to shoot the preacher but missed and the arrow landed on the lady (Achayo).”
Lt. Koko disclosed that they are still carrying out investigations and that the injured lady was recuperating well at the Obbo Primary Health Care Center.
Chief Gilbert Ringo Okumu of Obbo Payam said Otto had in the past severally told his mother to stop organizing evening prayers at home in vain prompting him to take the law into his hands.
“It happened in Kenya 1 but the shooting was not all that bad and currently I am in a police station. The lady is still taking medication at the health center. He did not want this issue of praying, evening prayer,” Chief Ringo explained. “He instructed his mother that he didn’t want this sort of evening prayer at his home. So, these people didn’t comply and when he came, he found that Christians had gathered and he told them he did not want evening prayers then he applied his arrow.”
Abwoch Emmanuel Oryem, a brother to the lady who was injured, said he preferred the law take its course.
“The incident happened on the evening of Saturday 21 August. I heard the news that my sister was shot with an arrow and immediately went to the place. He (Otto) is a relative, a cousin brother. This case, according to me, is like a murder case because it cannot be handled by the family. It is supposed to be handled by the law. The law should take its course,” Oryem said.