Policeman shot after arrest for Darfur gang-rape

One policeman is dead, another arrested, and an alleged rapist at large following an arrest in North Darfur’s Tawila on Tuesday.

Omda Mukhtar Bosh, coordinator of the Tawila camps for the displaced, reported to Radio Dabanga that five armed paramilitaries accosted a displaced woman as she tended her farm, about ten kilometres east of Tawila city on Tuesday evening.

“The militiamen gang-raped the woman at gunpoint for five consecutive hours,” the Omda said.

Members of the police managed to apprehend one of the alleged rapists, and took him to a police station in Tawila: “The arresting policeman requested that the suspect be held at the police station for questioning. Another policeman who was guarding the police station refused to accept the suspect.

“When the first policeman insisted, an argument and scuffle ensued between the policemen during which the guard fired nine shots. The arresting officer was killed outright, and the suspect escaped.”

Omda Bosh said that the body of the slain policeman, as well as the shooter, have been transferred to the North Darfur capital of El Fasher.