A woman from Warrap State is in police custody in Juba for selling her teenage daughter for USD 13,000 to a man from Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Luka Nyalok, the officer in charge of the GPAA Coordinator Office in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj that the girl who was sold has been recovered and reunited with her family.
He explained that the incident occurred last October when the woman duped her family that she was taking her daughter to an orphanage in Juba for better care.
“This incident only came to our attention recently when it became apparent to the rest of the family that the child was indeed not at an orphanage or dead as the mother claimed,” he explained. “What happened last year was that the woman said she was taking her child to an orphanage. Later, she claimed the child had died. However, it became clear that the child was not dead after a dispute occurred over an unsettled payment. This resulted in an operation that led to the recovery of the child and apprehension of those involved.”
Nyalok condemned the incident.
“The child was taken up to Muruou County,” he stated. However, when this was brought to our attention, we coordinated the recovery of the child, and the mother is now in police custody in the New Site area of Juba.”
For his part, GPAA Local Government Minister Peter Ajany Kaimoi said the recovery of the girl was part of their effort to halt child abuse.
“In 2023, we started a process of drafting a customary law that aimed at ending all forms of child trafficking, including abduction,” he said. “This April, we had the writing of these laws completed, and it is now a bill awaiting to be passed into law by our parliament. As a government, we are committed to ending all forms of abuse against children.”