By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Police in the southern district of Pujehun have arrested a 16 year old boy for allegedly raping a 13 year old girl. The alleged incident occurred on Friday at Fairo Village, Sorogbeima Chiefdom.
The alleged victim has since been taken to the district headquarters town by her family for medical checkup.
The police confirmed the incident to Politico.
“The suspect is sixteen years. The matter is still under investigation and we are trying to gather more evidence. We have recorded statements and we will be interviewing the suspect soon,” the Line Manager for the Family Support Unit in the area, Ibrahim Samura, told Politico on Friday.
When asked about the relationship between the accused and the alleged victim, Samura said: “It is the usual; we understand they had a boyfriend girlfriend kind of relationship.”
Rape and teenage pregnancy are among some of the top social problems in the district.
An activist from Pujehun, Suafiatu Tunis, said this is the first time she had heard about sexual penetration case in the district involving two minors. She said this latest development is worrying for the progress activists have been trying to make regarding the situation of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in the district.
“I am more than worried and I think we have to put a stop (to it). We have to nip it in the board,” she said.
Madam Tunis added that it’s time to rally parents, especially men, to engage their boys and understand their psyche.
“We have to come together as parents and we need our men. They have to sit and talk to these boys; I think it is long overdue. Once this has started happening, it’s high time they (men) got on board,” Tunis said.
In reference to the case, she said it is important that the case be investigated and example is set to deter future perpetrators.
She said: “If we let this go and don’t set an example, then definitely that’s a license for other boys to do the same thing.”
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