The citizens in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and the Sudanese community there have welcomed Monday’s ruling by the High Court sitting in Aweil town which sentenced 42-year-old Sudanese trader Saber Abdalla Abusam to death.

The president of the High Court in Aweil Town, Abraham Majur Lat, sentenced Saber Abdalla Abusam to death for defiling, murdering, and disposing of the dead body of his victim, 5-year-old Abuk Lual Lual,  in a pit latrine in the Ayuang residential area.

His housemate, Omer Mohamud Omer, was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to conceal the gruesome crime. Another Sudanese trader, Ahmad Hassan Adam, was acquitted of concealing the crime after charges against him were dropped.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj shortly after Monday’s court ruling, many Awel citizens and members of the Sudanese community welcomed the verdict and said justice had been served.  

A young lady, Nyibol Malek, said it was a fitting ruling which will act as a deterrent.

“The accused who was sentenced to hang is because he killed a person and the other one who was sentenced to spend many years in jail because he concealed the information about the death,” she said. “This move will deter people from committing similar crimes.”

Eduard Lual, the father of the deceased minor said he appreciated the ruling but requested President Salva Kiir to allow the convict to be hanged in Aweil to deter others.

“I appreciate the final verdict but my special request to President Kiir is that he approves the hanging of Mr. Saber Abdalla Abusam here in Aweil so that the traders in may fear to commit such crimes,” Lual said. “I am a small person but I want you to hear my voice because all people of Aweil are demanding that Saber must be hanged here so that the foreigners who live here witness it.”

The Sudanese community representative in Aweil, Jidu Mohammed Abdalla, said they have been advocating for the death sentence for the main accused since the Rizeigat delegation from Sudan arrived in Aweil to condemn the crime and pass their condolence message to the people of Aweil.    

“Concerning the court ruling to hang the convict, we support it because even the time our brothers from the Rizeigat delegation came to Aweil, we called for the same punishment even if laws South Sudan do not allow the death penalty,” he said. “We recommended that the Sudanese law must be used because it allows hanging in cases of defilement.”

Meanwhile, Peter Diing, the executive director of Wider Aid and Development Agency Africa (WADA-AFRICA), a civil society organization, said the verdict is in line with the expectation and demands of the local people.

“We welcome the way that the court has addressed the issue.  We are happy and the community is also happy and it will prevent inter-communal conflict among the host communities and foreigners here,” Diing said.