Late 19-year-old Lilian Henry Musa. (-)

A 19-year-old girl who was sitting for the ongoing Certificate of Primary Education exams was hanged to death near a school by unidentified assailants in Ladu Payam of Juba County on Monday evening, according to the family.

The victim’s uncle Edward Deyan said Lilian Henry Musa had moved from a nearby village to Borei Primary School to sit in the only examination center in the area.

Mr. Deyan – a member of Central Equatoria parliament – said the deceased had sat for the first paper on Monday and was revising with her colleagues in the evening – when she stepped out to speak on phone.

“She (victim) came from the village to board in the school and sit for exams then go back to the village,” the lawmaker narrated in a phone interview with Eye Radio.

However, she did not come back and her colleagues and teachers went searching and called her phone which was not going through.

A few hours later, she was found dead near the school with signs of strangulation on her throat, and teeth bites on her shoulder.

“They sat for the first paper and in the evening, they were revising. Then she received a call and went outside to talk. When she delayed, her colleagues went looking for her and they also called her but no one was picking the call.”

“The next day, I was called to go to the center and when I reached there, I found the police investigating the incident. It was found that she was hanged with a rope and her ribs were broken and there was also a teeth bite in her left shoulder.”

Mr. Deyan said the murder incident has sparked fear and traumatized the learners taking exams in the school.

He advised the school and Payam administration to enforce security and not allow students to use phones or leave the school premises. He further disclosed that a police case was filed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.

“When I confirmed that she was killed I came and filed a police case and am following the issue. These are among the challenges we are facing here in Ladu Payam since July last year death is just being reported here.”

“The pupils are now in fear and can not even read so we went and talked with the teachers and pupils to continue with the exams.”

“We will talk with the Payam administration to enforce security in the school compound and we also urged the teachers not to allow phones in the school compound until they finish exams because all that happened because she went to speak on phone.”