A group of women activists protest the rising rape cases in Juba on May 15, 2020 | Credit | Courtesy

Authorities in Lakes State say two people linked to the gang-raping of a 10-year-old girl and two women are being held at Rumbek Central Prison.

Those arrested are Ajong Chol Mading and Matur Makuei Dut who, according to the Secretary-General of the defunct Gok state, were wanted for crimes including murder, rape and cattle raiding.

Local authorities say the incident occurred when the women were out in the fields to harvest fruits commonly known as ‘Lulu’ at Amatdual village when the men were gang-raped them on Sunday.

Ater Amon says the State government is hunting for five others involved in the act.

“The victims went and identified those two men. So, it is now upon the women to open a case against those people and they will be taken to the court of law,” Amon told Eye Radio on Monday.

The two women and the ten year-old-are undergoing treatment at Rumbek State Hospital.

Eye Radio has been reporting disturbing stories of women and girls being gang-raped by men with guns in Gudele, Jenderu, and Rock City.

Most of the recent incidents took place in the capital, Juba, the seat of the national government.

In May, an eight-year-old girl was reportedly sexually assaulted by three young men who later dumped her outside her home at Gudele.

The girl’s mother was held at gunpoint, while her daughter was taken away.

In the same month, a 58-year-old woman was also raped and killed at Jenderu area in Juba.

Days later, her body was found dumped in the same area.

Last year, Chief Justice Chan Reech Madut announced plans to establish special courts that would handle crimes related to gender-based violence in the country, but the plans are yet to materialize.

But observers say little has been done by the government to address cases of rape and other sexual gender-based violence in South Sudan.