Court opens case of a 3-year-old girl molested by her teacher

The Gender-Based Violence – GBV Court opened the trial of a case involving a 3-year-old girl Thursday, who was allegedly molested last week by a female school teacher at Mercy British International School.

The South Sudan Child Act 2008 prohibits sexual abuse of all forms. Article 22 sub-section (c) stipulates that sexual abuse, exploitation, and harassment including rape, incest, or coercion of a child to witness or engage in a sexual activity constitutes a crime and is punishable by up to fourteen years in prison. 

Prosecutor Sabino Okuje presented a case in the GBV Court. He says the 3-year-old whose name is withheld for her protection, was sexually abused by a female school teacher.

 “The incident happened at Mercy British international in the Tonpiny residential area. According to the police, this child was at school during class time when her (female) teacher inserted fingers into her private parts and that caused bleeding and injuries,” Akuje told The Insider.

Defense lawyer Reech Ring Bol says the prosecutor’s statement was unsubstantiated by anyone other than the child. 

 Bol told reporters after Thursday’s court session the whole trial was based on the girl’s statement. He says the prosecutor has no substantiated evidence that his client committed a crime. 

“we in the defense are a little bit uncomfortable with the evidence presented by the prosecutor. First of all, the whole entire case relied on a statement of a three-year-old child and the statement testifies and confirmed to the court that the child won’t know how to speak or has not reached the level of expressing herself,” Bol said, acknowledging that the South Sudan Child Act gives children protection against any form of abuse. 

Such a criminal case needs physical evidence or a witness confirming that such an act did in fact happen besides what the child said to her parents, according to Bol who claimed that the medical report indicated an injury but not bleeding. 

“There is no clarification when did the wound happen and how it happened and through what.  Because when you talk about sexual abuse and you confirmed it was abused then you are supposed to take it to be confirmed. Whose finger was it?”

“We are not going to judge or determine anything until a medical doctor comes because he is a specialist who will tell us. As of now, there is no connection for someone to say this act has been committed by so and so because there is no direct evidence or witness that saw the suspected teacher committing the crime,” he added. 

The school declined to comment, following its suspension by the national ministry of general education last week over the alleged sexual assault, citing concerns over the unprecedented assault of a child in the care of a teacher.

“it is imperative that you comply with directives and cooperate with the investigation committee which will be dispatched to your end,” said Kuyok Abol Kuyok, the Undersecretary in the ministry of general education and instruction in a suspension letter to the school.