Soldier rapes 13-year-old girl in Tabit, North Darfur

An army soldier raped a 13-year-old girl in Tabit village in North Darfur on Tuesday.

“The rape occurred in the girl’s house while her parents were absent,” one of the neighbours told Radio Dabanga.

“After we discovered the incident, we hunted-down the culprit, who had returned to Tabit military garrison. The commander told us that he detained the soldier and will solve the problem with understanding.”

‘Open prison’

Radio Dabanga reported on 2 November last year, that army forces raped more than 200 women and girls in Tabit. The soldiers said that they had been ordered to do so in their search for a missing colleague.

The army troops conducted house-to-house searches in the village, robbed the residents of their belongings, severely beat them, and raped women and girls. During the two nights, the soldiers detained the men of Tabit en masse, threatened and abused them throughout the nights, while others continued raping. At least 221 women and girls were allegedly raped in Tabit over a 36-hour period.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the situation in Tabit, in a report issued on 11 February this year, as being like “living in an open prison”. Since the attacks, Sudanese government officials, military commanders, and traditional leaders have threatened, intimidated, beaten, detained, and tortured residents of Tabit to prevent them from speaking out, the report stated.