Imam Saed Ahmed Hamed appeared before a High Court judge on Thursday, December 17, 2020. Credit|Michael Daniel/Eye Radio

A sixty-year-old Imam has been sentenced to prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl in Juba.

This, Thursday, morning, the newly launched Gender-Based Violence and Juvenile court found the religious leader of the Munuki Mosque guilty.

The Sudanese national, Saed Ahmed Hamed is said to have sexually abused the little girl on April 7, 2020 -as she was cleaning the mosque.

According to the presiding judge, the convict has been charged under Article 247 of the South Sudan Panel Code of 2008.

“This court has noted that the principal convict of such crime deserves a heavy sentence. The convicted person is an Imam and a Muslim teacher at Munuki Mosque, he is a well-known person to the victim,” Francis Amum Awin said, further reading the verdict during today’s sentencing.

“One, the convicted person is sentenced to 10 years in prison effective from today the 17 of December 2020, and the convicted has to pay to the victim amount of SSP 6,000 as amends through the criminal procedure.”

Imam Ahmed’s lawyers have been granted the chance to appeal the ruling within 14 days.

Article 247 of the Penal Code says whosoever has sexual intercourse or carnal intercourse with another person, against his or her will or without his or her consent, commits the offense of rape.

It states that, upon conviction, the perpetrator shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years and may also be liable to a fine.

The Ministry of Gender and UN Population Fund estimates that a total of 6,295 incidents of Gender-based Violence were recorded from January 1 – September 30, 2020.

Two weeks ago, Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut described those who commit gender-based violence as ignorant.

“Gender-based violence is a result of ignorance of some men who think that they are more superior to the women. I think such men need medical attention because the way they think is not normal,” he stated.

Since the beginning of 2020, Eye Radio has been reporting disturbing stories of women and girls being sexually assaulted in the country by men some with guns.

The latest incident happened at Jonduru in Juba recently when three armed men molested a 15-year-old girl in front of family members in Juba.