Minors among six North Darfur rape victims

Six women, including minors, were raped in three separate incidents in Tawila locality, North Darfur, on Monday and Tuesday.

On Tuesday, a group of gunmen riding camels attacked seven women when they tended their farms near Taradona in the southern part of Tawila locality – which is traditionally considered part of East Jebel Marra.

“Four of the women managed to escape, but the other three, including a minor, were gang-raped,” the brother of one of the victims told Radio Dabanga.”

He said that the three rape victims were taken to hospital, the incident reported to the police and a Form 8* was obtained. “We also notified Unamid.”

The source added that on the same day, militiamen raped two young women farmers near Burra.

On Monday, three girls collecting firewood in the area of Keira were ambushed by militiamen, a listener reported to Radio Dabanga from Keira. “The attackers seized one of them, a 15-year-old girl, and raped her alternately.”

He said that they reported the rape to the army commander in the area. “He told us however that he is not authorised to prosecute militiamen.”

* Form 8: In Sudan, medical evidence of an assault is admitted solely via the so-called Form 8. It can be issued only by police stations, or approved hospitals and clinics. Critics state that the procedure is “glaringly inadequate”, as sufficient medical evidence is often very difficult to obtain