A 65-year-old woman, Ifuho Meneng, was shot dead in Iloli village in the defunct Torit East County of Eastern Equatoria State on Monday.
Ifuho was going to her garden in the morning to harvest sorghum when she met a group of unknown gunmen who killed her.
“This incident happened at around 9 am and the news reached us at around 11 am. This woman was going to cut Dura but she was found on the road near her garden. She is called Ifuho Meneng, 65 years old. We followed the footmarks up to near Ilieu, our group that followed the footstep met the patrol team of Ilieu and inform them about it and they responded that they will help in the search,” Sisto Ofere the Iloli Boma chief told Radio Tamazuj.
Chief Ofere says youth will increase patrols in Iloli village to protect women in the gardens following the incident
He expressed frustration over killings at a time the population is celebrating Christmas.
The executive director of the now-defunct Torit East County, Omoli John, confirmed the incident and said chiefs are working on the ground to ascertain the killers of the woman.
“The chiefs are on the ground, they will just do it the way we are doing things here. When an incident happens like that, you know the law will take its course after capturing the person who did it. At times we need to settle things using customary laws, like when you kill someone, people can sit down and settle customarily whereby 26 cows will be paid,” Omoli said.
Flora Sebit Jada, the executive director for Women Agency for Development, a women-led organization in the state condemned the killing of an old woman and urged Otuho communities to stop using women as tools of conflict.
“Innocent women or young girls will just fall in an ambush and are killed in the garden and on the roads, raped and everything can be done to her. People should stop the approach of using women to harm or pain the hearts of others. This issue still exists among Otuho people. People kill and they come and sing such things of the past. It is not right when we target vulnerable people like women and children. It is bad,” Flora said.
According to Flora, “Our criminals have proved to be beyond the government, this is what I see because we have criminals in our homes but we are keeping them for what reason?”
The activist blames both local and state authorities for delaying in resolving community conflicts.
On the 9th of this month, one person was killed and another wounded in Iloli village when youth disagreed.