Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal,
November 26, 2021—A sixty two year-old man has ended his dear life in Northern Bahr el Ghazal after he was put behind bars for failing to pay a bride price, sources from Aweil confirmed.
According to the information extended to Nyamilepedia, Majok Ayuel Lual Yor impregnated a girl early this year in Aweil East County but his father could not meet the demands of his son’s in-laws.
“He was arrested on the marriage issue of his son, Majok Lual Yor” Sergeant Major Aguer told Eye Radio on Wednesday.
The girl’s parents demanded 11 heads of cattle, a demand the 62-year-old man could not meet as he had only one cow, and as such he was thrown behinds bars on orders of local chiefs in Madhol Payam.
The police officer in charge of the area Sergeant Major Deng Aguer says the deceased volunteered to serve a jail term on behalf of his son.
He asked to be imprisoned instead of his son because his son failed to pay the bride price for a girl he impregnated.
According to the police officer, Ayuel Lual Yor agreed to give away his one cow to his son’s in-laws but later changed his mind saying he was no longer interested in the marriage, a claim Nyamilepedia could not independently verify.
“The man only paid one cow as part of the dowry but changed his mind later and demanded his cow returned because he was no longer interested in the marriage, where the chief ordered his arrest and detained in prison where he killed himself.” Aguer said.
When asked about what would happen next, Sergeant Aguer said, after the deceased died, nothing happened but “they just took the measures”.
Marriage in South Sudan can be daunting as young men in both Dinka and Nuer tribes are forced to pay hundreds of heads of cattle to marry; otherwise, the family of the girl can retaliate in any way they want and most often the traditional courts would take the stand of the girl’s family.
