Militiamen shave heads of North Darfur school students

In the past two days, members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have detained dozens of young people in Mellit town and reportedly shaved their heads.

The majority of detainees in the North Darfur town are secondary school students. Witnesses reported that they have had their heads shaved by the RSF members.

The shaving campaign, as residents name it, has created fear in the area. “Especially students are scared. Most of them have been forced to stay at home by their parents, out of fear of being beaten and shaved bald,” a witness told this station.

Residents have condemned and criticised the campaign.

In October last year, members of RSF militiamen also shaved a girl’s head when she was taking livestock for grazing in Kutum. They had discovered she belonged to the Mahameed clan.

In December, 83 youths and students in Sudan’s Northern State were convicted to be shaved in public for their “odd shaving and wearing inappropriate uniforms”, a town court ruled