Angry Aweil residents went on street to protest the killing of a 5-year-old child by a foreign trader in Aweil town - Courtesy

Police in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal have restored calm after angry Aweil residents went on streets to protest the killing of a 6-year-old child by a foreign trader.

According to authorities in Northern Bah- el-Ghazal, a foreign trader named – Saber Abu Sam, 42, was suspected to have defiled, murdered a child and dumped her body in a pit latrine on Wednesday.

The state information minister, William Anyuon told Eye Radio that following the incident, the local community went on a rampage, beating up foreign traders and vandalizing their shops.

Minister Anyuon stated that state police have managed to bring the situation under control.

“The situation is calm, the police went out and the situation is now calm. We have taken all the Arabs to a safe place and the police are in control,” Anyuon told Eye Radio on Wednesday.

For his part, Aweil Police commissioner, Major General Phillip Maduot Tong told Eye Radio that a foreign traders has been arrested after he was accused of defiling and murdering a five-year-child in Aweil town.

Tong says the suspect who lived with the victim within the same compound, reportedly committed the crime at around 9:00 PM on Wednesday.

This was while the child’s mother was at her tea place in the market.

Major General Tong says suspect Abu Sam who was arrested with two of his associates was previously warned of having an attempt on the girl.

“Yesterday [Tuesday], at about nine o’clock in the evening, there are some foreign traders who live with family in the same compound, and one of them who tried before to molest a little girl of five years old,” Maduot told Eye Radio

“The mother of this child complained to his colleagues who live with him in the house and the problem was resolved and he apologized that he would not repeat this act.

“This time when he tried again, he defiled the girl, killed her and dumped her in the toilet. The medical report stated that the girl had been defiled before the murder.

The police issued a directive to arrest all the men living in the house. The body of the child was delivered to the parent, and she will be buried in the village.”

Most defilement cases reported by Eye Radio were committed by people living in the same compound or neighbors.

In February this year, The High Court in Juba sentenced a 27-year-old man to death for defiling and killing a 13-year-old girl.

Amos Pitia Henry, 27, committed the crime on 22 November 2020 in Hai Cinema residential area in Juba a year ago.

The body of the girl was discovered in the car belonging to the convicted father.