Teachers, locals join in protest against West Darfur rapes

People in El Geneina locality went out in a demonstration against the rapes of two school teachers on Tuesday evening, calling for the authorities to arrest the rest of the perpetrators.

Dozens of family members of the two victims and teachers and youth in El Addar, ten kilometers northeast of El Geneina, held their protest on Thursday in front of the Ministry of Education of West Darfur.

Reporting from the scene, journalist Alaeldin Babakar told Radio Dabanga that they demanded the punishment of two captured suspects, and to improve the protection of teachers.

Firdous Hussein Saleh, the state Minister of Education, released a statement saying that medical tests have confirmed the rape of the two teachers on Tuesday night, stressing the need to arrest the criminals and bring them to justice

Following the news of the rapes, the General Federation for teachers and state workers has threatened to enter into a strike in the event that the authorities fail to arrest the culprits.

The incident reportedly involved three young herdsmen who stormed the hostel of El Addar School, where they seized two of the teachers, dragged them to a piece of open ground, and repeatedly raped them. El Geneina police managed to arrest two suspects at one of the settlements northeast of El Addar. A third suspect has fled.

(RD)