Catholic priest disappears after alleged torture in Juba
April 20, 2015 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese Catholic priest is reportedly missing two days after South Sudan army soldiers allegedly tortured him, destroying his residential house in Thongpiny, a Juba suburb on Saturday.
“A group of SPLA soldiers came at Akot’s home last week to demolish his house after they fell into disagreement over ownership of the plot,” said the eyewitness, who identified one Captain Mayor Madul as the officer rivaling with the priest over the land.
However, multiple sources told Sudan Tribune the plot rightly belongs to the Catholic priest, whose family has been on the land for the past five years.
Benjamin Bol Dhoruai, a brother to the missing cleric, said about 30 soldiers forcefully entered the compound at 11:00 am with private bulldozers and started clearing off houses and the fence while ordering women and children out of compound.
“They came in with a privately hired wheel loader and destroyed five separate bedrooms and four well stocked shops which were run by foreigners who were renting,” he added.
The armed soldier allegedly also confiscated everything in the destroyed houses as well as shops that were being rented by the foreign nationals.
“We have lost a lot of properties, money, clothes and very important documents. We asked for an order of destruction letter [but] they told us that there is no letter and [that] if we spent the night that compound again then they will come and shoot us,” Dhoruai told Sudan Tribune by phone.
He said two of the boys who attempted to rescue Father Madol were nearly beaten to death. They are admitted at Juba teaching hospital, he said.
“The two young men who tried to safe Father Madol’s life sustained a lot of injuries, one boy got his leg broken and another one got his skull broken on the head, they are currently admitted in juba Teaching hospital,” Dhoruai said from the capital, Juba.
Till now, Father Madol’s whereabouts remain unknown as family members expressed worries over the injuries he sustained as a result of the beatings.
A Lt. Col in the South Sudanese army, Father Madol reportedly joined the Anyanya 1 liberation struggle in the early 1960’s and later became an active members of the SPLA in the early 1980’s.
(ST)