A health worker who was illegally detained and severely tortured at the weekend by a military unit based in Mingkaman town market is seeking justice.
David Mabil Mabor, aged 33, is the supervisor of maternity programs in Awerial County.
On Sunday, armed soldiers under Lt. Col. Mabor Majak stopped him for stepping on a line the soldiers had drawn with ashes to symbolize a no-go zone for civilians at the market.
Without warning, Mabil says the soldiers undressed him and hit him on the bottom 150 times with a rubber cane locally known as ‘uncle black’- leaving him bleeding.
Photos he posted on his Facebook timeline show that the flogging left serious wounds on his behind and he is unable to sit.
“They insisted and rushed to grab my legs and threw me in the air,” said Mabil, who is currently nursing the injuries at a health facility. “There was a guy called Malak, who dragged me from the cell and started flogging me with 150 lashes. The way they lashed me was humiliating because they removed my pants and flogged me naked.”
He went on to say he will initiate a legal process against the soldiers once he recovers from the wounds:
“I will do my part as a person who is humiliated because they can’t go like that. I will file a case and follow legal procedures. I am confident,” Mabil added.
For his part, the commissioner of Awerial County, Philip Mawut, says authorities have detained the suspects, whom he declined to identify.
However, he promised that justice will be served: “When I heard about the case, I immediately went there and freed the health workers to go for treatment and I commanded the commander of the army to arrest the soldiers involved and bring them to book.”