Elements of the Sudanese paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, commonly known as Himedti, have been accused of raping a 30-year-old South Sudanese woman in an area situated between Sudan’s East Darfur State and South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
The incident is believed to have occurred in the Rigebat habitat in the Bahr el Arab Locality in Sudan’s East Darfur State where the Rizeigat Community and they neighbor the Dinka Malual who live in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State in South Sudan.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, the Chairperson for Dinka Malual Joint Border Peace Committee, Anguei Noon Atak, confirmed that the South Sudanese woman was raped and stabbed by RSF fighters over the weekend.
“The new development along the common border this week is that a South Sudanese woman in her thirties who lives on the northern bank of Kiir Adem in an area called Rigebat was raped and stabbed by RSF fighters. I have informed the Kiir Adem Payam administrator to find ways of referring her to Gokmachar where she can access free healthcare services,” he said. “The perpetrators who attacked and abused the woman who sells tea but also brews alcohol have not been arrested. As the Joint Border Peace Committee, we are shocked by such reports and we are preparing our delegation to carry out investigations on the ground because nothing like this has happened since last year and justice must be served.”
A Sudanese man from the Rezeigat tribe who said he was not authorized to speak to the media refuted the information and said he had just arrived from the area where the alleged crime happened and that there was no rape or other case recorded.
“This is my arrival from the area but I did not hear the news,” he stated. “The area is secure and there is no issue at all because I was communicating with them in the morning.”
Meanwhile, Makuei Geng, a member of the border peace committee, said he was annoyed by the development and that the Rezeigat have to stick to cordial relations with Dinka Malual because the ongoing war in Sudan devastated the tribe.
“I do not know why such things are happening and although these people (Rizeigat) have problems in their areas, they are still committing crimes against the Dinka Malual which is wrong,” he said.