Khadija George Anglo being convicted for molestation. (Photo: Michael Daniel).

The Gender-Based Violence Court in Juba sentenced a young woman to 14 years imprisonment on Thursday for defiling a one-year-old child for rituals propose.

Khadija George Anglo, 21, committed the crime in March 2022 in Juba.

According to court findings, the accused molested the girl child with her finger.

The child’s mother said she left her baby at home with the accused and went to the market, before returning to find the child in blood.

Later, the survivor was taken to hospital for examination – where the doctor confirmed that the child was subjected to molestation.

While being arraigned for indictment, Khadija confessed the crime, saying she was deceived by a witch doctor.

The judge, Francis Amum Awin found the woman guilty of violating section 247 of the South Sudan Penal Act 2008.

“Convict  is  sentenced  to  14  years  imprisonment  for  defilement  in  contravention  of  section  247/2  penal  act  2008. Convict  has  to  pay tune 2,000,000  SSP,  for  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the baby girl child survivor  by  means  of  civil  proceeding,” Amum read out the verdict.

The GBV Court judge also reminded the convict of her right to appeal both the sentence and the case, before two weeks.

For her part, the defense lawyer of the accused appealed to the court to reduce the sentence, saying her client has no judicial precedence.

Khansah Ibrahim says her client has no judicial precedent, and she is also the mother of a seven-year-old child, and there is no one to take care of him.

A claim rejected by the court insisted on the punishment, justifying that it violated the innocence of the child, but she was granted two weeks for Appeal.