Judge's gavel in courtroom - (Photo: Courtesy).

Aweil High Court in Northern Bahr el Ghazal on Friday sentenced a 32-year-old- Sudanese man to eleven years in prison for defiling a 7-year-old girl in the Wed-will Refugee Camp.

Convict Jaado Abdirahman committed the crime in June 2023 – two months after fleeing the conflict in Sudan.

Lieutenant Colonel Madut Ngong, who oversees the camp’s security said Abdirahman was sentenced on September 25.

Madut also said the convict will also pay a fine of two million South Sudan pounds.

“On July 5, a young girl was raped by a thirty-two-year-old man, and we transferred the case to the special protection unit in Aweil and the accused person was arrested,” Colonel Madut said.

According to the security officer, this is the first incident of rape since the establishment of the camp.

“This is the only case that we have recorded so far. As for domestic violence, we record two months between one or two incidents, but most of these incidents do not go to court but are resolved by a committee that was formed inside the camp.”

The convicted Jaado Abdirahman was also ordered by the court to pay 2 million South Sudanese as compensation to the survivor.

The conflict in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has so far forced thousands of Sudanese to seek refuge in neighbor’s countries including South Sudan.

Northern Bhar el Ghazal state is hosting over 8,000 in Wed-Wil refugee site refugees since it was established in May 2023.