Another man has been sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Gender-Based Violence court for abducting and defiling a 15-year-girl.
The 30-year-old married man, Angelo Wusong Legge, was convicted for sexually assaulting the girl at Juba at Hai Gabrona in November 2020.
According to the presiding judge, the convict abducted the girl from Terekeka and detained her in Juba for one week with the intention of marrying her.
The convict reportedly told the court that according to the tradition of his community, marrying an underage girl is not a crime.
However, judge Francis Amum Awin found Mr. Legge guilty of defilement.
“This court found the accused guilty and convicted for defiling girl child of 15 years,” he announced on Monday, adding that Legge must pay 500,000 SSP as fines.
According to the 2008 Child Act, every child has a right to protection from early marriage, forced circumcision, scarification, tattooing, piercing, tooth removal, or any other cultural rite, custom, or traditional practice that is likely to negatively affect the child’s life, health, welfare, dignity or physical, emotional, psychological, mental and intellectual development.
Last week, the GBV court sentenced four men to 10 years each in prison for molesting young girls.
The GBV court was inaugurated last December to handle crimes related to women and children in the country.