Civilians in Wonduruba Administrative Area of Central Equatoria State on Saturday accused soldiers of South Sudan`s People`s Defense Forces (SSPDF) of raping and killing an elderly woman, her husband, and a boy of about eight years of age.
A Wonduruba town resident who spoke to Radio Tamazuj on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said the three people were picked from their house on Friday evening by soldiers and killed in cold blood.
He said civilians in the area are now sleeping in the bushes due to fear of falling victim to the hands of the rogue soldiers.
“Yesterday at around 9 p.m., there was an incident that happened in Wonduruba Town, they (soldiers) came to the residential areas and started opening doors of people sleeping in their houses and removed three people and started shooting them dead, an elderly man together with his wife and a child of about seven years old boy,” the resident said. “They caught the woman, tied her, raped then killed her. Since yesterday, people have been living in fear and most people have fled their homes to the bushes where they sleep at night.”
“The situation of the civilians is dire, sometimes men come home and take food to their families in the bushes and they can also be killed in the process and the medical facility since yesterday is not functioning,” he added.
For his part, Wonduruba Administrator Towongo Stephen Michael confirmed the incident to this publication and said they are investigating the matter.
“At 9 p.m. on 9 November, the headman who is 62 years old along with his wife, 50, and a boy of 8 years of age were killed in the house, so, the investigation is ongoing to establish exactly who is behind it,” he said. “That incident is something that might be intentional because the man who was killed is blind. People who always come at night have ill intentions but there are no reports of a motive behind that incident.”
When contacted, SSPDF Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang declined to comment, saying he is not in the office and has left no one to act in his absence.