A young man has reportedly taken his own life after defiling and killing a 9-year-old girl in Amadi state on Wednesday.

The deputy state governor said the incident occurred at Beti cattle camp, about 14 kilometers east of Mundri town.

The 25-year-old man was identified as Samuel Lew Paulino.

“After raping the girl, he killed her and later on committed suicide,” Manasseh Doboyi told Eye Radio on Thursday.

Both Lew and the little girl came from the neighboring Terekeka State.

The deputy governor of Amadi told Eye Radio that they have handed over the dead bodies to Tali County officials.

In 2018, a United Nations report showed that sexual violence was on the rise in South Sudan after documenting 134 cases in northern areas of South Sudan.

Fifty of the victims were children, one of them just 8 years old.

Another 41 women and girls suffered other forms of sexual and physical abuse.

Rape has also been used widely as a weapon of war in South Sudan since the signing of revitalized peace agreement in September 2018, according to reports.

In November, a 38-year-old man was arrested for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl in Torit town.