Teenage girl ‘bundled up’ and whisked away in forced marriage

A human rights activist is reporting disturbing scenes at Malakia police station in Juba as a teenage girl resisted being handed over to a man identified as her husband. 

 

The 18-year-old girl was taken to the police station for refusing to honor a forced marriage to a man suspected to be an SSPDF officer. 

 

Godfrey Victor Bulla, Executive Director of the Justice and Human Rights Observatory, legal aid group says the girl had tried on several occasions to leave the marriage over the past three years but was stopped by her family members who received 21 cows for her hand in marriage. 

 

Victor Bulla is critical of harmful traditional practices such as forced marriage that infringe on human rights.  

 

He says this incident demonstrates a strong need to translate the national constitution into local languages for the public.  

 

Bulla explains to Sebit William how the girl was dragged out of police cells by her husband and whisked away to an unknown location.