The mother of a girl who was raped in Wau’s Hai Bilpham area in Western Bahr-el-Ghazal State in October last year has accused officers at the Souk Hajer Police station and state prosecutors of deliberately delaying justice for her daughter.
The woman who only identified herself as Mary told Radio Tamazuj that she has been diligently following the case from last year but that the suspect has not been arraigned in court.
“I am really tired and don’t know if I have any rights. I have been moving up and down following this case since October last year and now I am sick and tired. The prosecutor said the police investigator tore one of the papers and I don’t know who did it. Now the file has been sent back. It is frustrating,” Mary lamented.
She moaned that she does not know what else to do to get justice for her 17-year-old daughter who was raped by an armed man.
“I don’t know where the case file is. They keep tossing me around and saying it is with that police investigator or the other prosecutor so I am now stuck and don’t know what to do,” Mary said. “Is it because I am a woman? Let them tell me because my child is hurting. What if she had died, what would have happened? That is why I have come to the media to complain about this issue.”
According to Mary, the rape incident took place at the end of October last year when an armed man entered their house at night and threatened them. The man then proceeded to rape Mary’s daughter. In the process, Mary managed to grab the gun and the rapist fled.
She said that she then opened a case at the Souk Hajer police station against the rapist who was later arrested but released under unclear circumstances without being brought to book and that the case has since stalled.
Samuel Ajoung Cuer, the police commissioner for Western Bahr-el-Ghazal declined to talk to the media on the matter saying that he did not have enough information about the case.
Meanwhile, Linda Ferdinand, a local activist working for the Woman Organization for Training and Promotion (WOTAP), condemned the crime of rape and threats against women and girls in the community.
“The authorities should always offer justice and protection to girls and women in the state because these days women are not secure. Women face the threat of rape and violence and this must stop. We need the government to offer good security for women,” Linda said.
South Sudan laws provide for the protection of women and girls from sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence, including rape, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.