Gender based-violence special court was officially inaugurated in Nov. 2020 during #16DaysofActivism - courtesy

The Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Court in Juba on Wednesday commenced the trial of a young man accused of raping and forcing a 16-year-old girl to have an abortion against her consent two years ago.

The court proceedings are expected to focus on the details surrounding the alleged assault allegedly by Akot Chan Arop, the survivor’s condition, and the appropriate legal actions.

In Wednesday’s court session, police investigator, Cpt. Dejo Deng, presented the survivor statements, narrating that indicating that the incident took place in Kampala in November 2022, where the survivor alleged that Mr. Arop sexually abused her, resulting in pregnancy.

The survivor stated that Arop took her to a clinic for a medical consultation, after which she was given medication.

She reported experiencing bleeding afterwards, which led to a miscarriage.

A doctor assigned by the prosecution to examine the survivor confirmed that she had indeed miscarried, suffered from uterine complications, and developed infections.

The prosecution referred the case under Articles 247 (Rape) and 217 (Causing Miscarriage) of the South Sudan Penal Code of 2008.

Judge Andrew Jushow Lado, who presided over the hearing, adjourned the case to October 4 for the defense lawyer to examine evidence from the police investigator.

After the hearing, the victim’s lawyer, Godfrey Victor, talked to Eye Radio and says the court was adjourned because the diary of the court was full and also had a power shortage.

“We are proceeding to preside over a case opened on the 18th of November 2022 under Sections 247 and 217 of the penal code 2008. So, the sexual intercourse with a minor and then resulted in the abortion of the kid there,” Victor said.

“We heard the prosecution case. The investigator presented his investigation report to the court with the findings of the case. The case was attended by both parties. The victim was allowed by the court to stay outside.”

Since its establishment in December 2020, the Gender Based Violence and Juvenile Court in Juba has so far sentenced more than 100 young men to different prison terms for committing sex crimes.

Most of the cases are of defilement and rape.

The convicts are normally sentenced to terms between 5 and 10 years in imprisonment, while the juvenile offenders are sentenced to reformatory schools for terms not exceeding 5 years.