A 27-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl in Lui Payam, Mundri East County, Western Equatoria State.

 Lui Payam police investigator, Natania Baya Felemona, revealed that Morris Marufu Kenyi, 27, raped the girl on Monday night.

He said the incident occurred at 9 p.m. on Monday when everyone in the family was sleeping outside since it was hot inside the room.

Felemona added that the man closed the minor’s bedroom and sexually abused her.

He said it was the uncle of the girl who noticed after the suspect attempted to run away after he had warned the victim not to tell anybody.

“Because they are neighbours, the girl’s uncle caught the man and held him inside the house until the morning, when he reported it to the police for further investigation,” Felemona said.

The police officer said the 27-year-old suspect had admitted that he had raped the girl.

“We took him to the hospital, which confirmed that the test was positive. We returned him to the destination shelter and waited for the completion of additional procedures, “he explained.

He stated that the little girl was undergoing treatment after sustaining an injury to her private parts, adding that the results for the sexually transmitted diseases test were still pending.

Mr. Kenyi is expected to be handed over to the court to face justice after all due processes have been completed.

This was not the first time such an incident was reported in Mundri County.

In January this year, three girls were allegedly raped by a group of gang members in Mundri West County but no suspect has been arrested, although the incident was reported to the police.

In the same month, Mundri West County Court sentenced a 50-year-old man to three years in jail for raping and defiling a daughter.

The Mundri County Court found Morson Bol guilty of defiling his 14-year-old daughter in Miri-Kalanga, the suburb of Mundri West County town, in September 2021, while the court ruling happened the following year.

“According to South Sudan’s local penal code, Article 247, Bol was found guilty of raping an underage girl, who happened to be his daughter. Not only that, but he also has some related cases. As a result, this court ruled today that Bol should go to prison for three years without bail.”

“From today, January 12/2022, up to January 12, 2025, Bol has to be in prison. If Bol finishes his three years in prison, he will be brought back before this court, and it should be witnessed by both parties,” Mundri’s court ruled.