Scores of women in Yei town staged protests against increasing cases of rape in the area on the occasion of International Women’s Day on Wednesday.
Last week, a 60-year-old woman was reported raped by a government soldier in Mukaya County, located three kilometers north of Yei town.
Huda Michael Lail, a prominent women leader in Yei, presented a petition to the state governor in which the protesting women condemned the act committed against old women and young girls.
She urged the state and national governments including human rights groups to ensure that the perpetrators are taken to court. Huda pointed out that the victims were raped by both government soldiers and armed opposition fighters.
“Your Excellency the Governor, the environment of Yei is not favorable for women. We are being raped by the SPLA within the government controlled areas and also raped by the SPLA-IO forces in areas controlled by the SPLA-IO,” she said.
“We are not part of the struggle for the presidential seat. We are not happy and we need this issue to be addressed because many of our women are suffering out of their homes,” she added.
For his part, the Governor of Yei River State, David Lokonga Moses, admitted that there are increasing cases of rape in the state.
The official claimed that he has directed the security organs in the state to cooperate civilians in order to apprehend the perpetrators.
“The President of the country has condemned this behavior. What kind of persons or animals are these to rape old women? I want to tell you that, I have recorded 86 cases of rape against women,” he said.
“I want to condemn this in the strongest possible terms, I want women to wake up and report these cases to me Governor Lokonga, because we want to ensure that the culture of impunity is buried,” he added.
Photo: Yei women protest over rising rape cases on Wednesday, March 8, 2017/Radio Tamazuj