A 33-yearr-old man is under police custody in Kapoeta town for allegedly molesting a 9-year-old girl.
According to police, the suspect Joseph Logie – a resident of Palakal – sexually abused the minor at her house on Saturday night.
The little girl, whose identity cannot be disclosed due to child privacy policy, was sleeping in the room with her siblings when Logie entered and forced himself on her.
The director of police crimes unit in Kapoeta – Major Wal Ruot – said they made the arrest of the suspect after the parents reported the matter.
“The parents are the ones who brought the child and the suspect to the police station at the same time,” Wal stated.
He appreciated the unnamed parents for not taking laws into their own hands.
“I think the way they reported the case is the right way, because sometimes others might tend to react in a different way by harming the suspect,” he continued.
Wal added that the young girl was receiving treatment at a health facility in town.
Every child has the right to be protected from ill-treatments and abuses while in the care of parents, legal guardians, teachers, police or any other person who has care of a child, according to Section 22 of the Child Act 2008.
These include sexual abuse, exploitation and harassment including, but not limited to rape, incest, inducement or coercion of a child to witness or engage in a sexual activity; the use of a child in prostitution or other sexual practices.
Whoever commits such an offence shall on conviction, be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years, it says.