Mass rape of “200” in North Darfur

“More than 200 women and girls” were collectively raped in their village on Friday evening, reportedly by Sudanese soldiers belonging to a military garrison south of El Fasher in North Darfur. At least 80 of the victims were minors. The residents of Tabit have not been able yet to transfer the wounded to other towns or medical centres. One of the elders in Tabit village told Radio Dabanga that the commander of the military garrison, located half a kilometre north of Tabit, came to the village on Friday morning, claiming that one of his soldiers went missing on Thursday evening. He gave the villagers until sunset to retrieve the missing soldier. “We were caught by surprise when soldiers surrounded Tabit at 8 pm,” the village elder told. “They beat the people with rifle butts and chased all of the men outside the village. Then they started to rape about 200 women and girls, which lasted from Friday evening until 4 am on Saturday.Eight out of the 80 raped minors were basic school children, he claimed. He said that 105 girls were unmarried; the other victims were married women. “They also prevented us from transferring the wounded to El Fasher city, the Unamid base, or to Shangil Tobaya,” the witness stressed. He appealed to the human rights and humanitarian organisations, as well as the United Nations, to save the village and bring the perpetrators and those involved in the event to the International Criminal Court. File photo Related: Soldiers rape two women in East Jebel Marra, Darfur (29 October 2014)‘Sexual violence crisis in Sudan’: rape victims speak out (8 December 2013)