Judge and gavel in courtroom - (Photo: Courtesy).

The Gender-based Violence Court in Juba has slapped another young man with a 10-year jail term for defiling a 15-year-old school girl.

21-year-old Yasin Agiga Nyoko, a resident of Gurei residential area was found guilty of the crime on Monday.

The case is the latest in a span of sentencing that has seen more than a hundred young men jailed for decades since establishment of the court in 2020.

According to Judge Francis Amum, the girl’s father had warned convict Agiga to stay away from his daughter several times. But is said have never listened.

Agiga was then charged with the offense last year in June. During Monday’s hearing session, he confessed to the wrongdoing.

In his ruling, Judge Francis convicted him under section 247 of the South Sudan Penal act 2008, which provides for defilement.

“The convict is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment be served to start from 22.6.2022. the convict must pay tune of one million SSP for the amelioration of the condition of the survivor through a civil proceeding,” Amum read out the verdict.

“To be rehabilitee his attitude towards women and girls. the convict has 15 days to appeal against the legality and severity of the sentence.”

Reacting to the verdict, the girl’s father, Bismarck Sokala explained why he took the matter to the court.

“I called this boy to my house we have a conversation me and him and my daughter,” said Sokala.

“I told him this girl is young and I want you to stop seeing her if you listen please don’t repeat my sons want to beat him, but I told them to let’s follow the right procedure because I have sons and they may committee says crime.”

“I let him go back safely because he promised he will not repeat it again, but he repeated it my daughter is not the first girl he abused in the area.  I don’t want to take the law into his hand because the law is above all of us that is why I brought him to the law to handle our case.”

Meanwhile, the convict’s father regretted his son’s crime and apologized.

Albino Bazia called on young people to desist from committing such crimes, saying their families have labored to look after them and need their positive contribution in return.

“Such behavior will not help us, I am calling upon girls and boys to be patient. We were patient that why we reach this age and managed to raise them.”

“We feel sorry to see a young boy taken to court and jailed for 10 years if he was out of prison he may help his family but now he is going to miss a lot of things, and it’s not good. I am calling on girls to be aware of the law because what I see is they don’t know anything about the law and think they are free to do anything.”