Police at Makuok Payam in Tonj North County, Warrap State, say they are investigating a 55-year-old woman over the death of her husband.
They suspect Adut Achuil Lual is alleged to have beat Athian Akech, 60, to death at their home in Agaker village on Thursday evening.
Athian, they say, had tried to get Adut to get him tobacco from their neighbor’s house, in vain.
After fetching the stimulant himself, he allegedly lured her into their hut and hit her with a stick for disobeying him.
“In defense, she repeatedly hit her husband on the head, leaving him in a severe coma,” said Sgt. Daniel Deng, head of Makuok Payam Police Station.
SGt. Deng said Adut had left her husband unconscious in the hut, adding that it was a neighbor who discovered Athian’s lifeless body later on.
Deng mentioned went on to say the couple was living alone in the house after their only daughter got married and son moved to Juba with his family.
While men and boys are also affected by gender-based violence, the majority of survivors are women and girls, according to the UN.
The South Sudan Penal Code 2008 states that whoever causes the death of another person…commits the offence of murder, and upon conviction be sentenced to death or imprisonment for life.
That person, Article 206 continues, may also be liable to a fine; provided that, if the nearest relatives of the deceased opt for customary blood compensation, the court may award it in lieu of death sentence with imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.