South Sudan cleric jailed for adultery

JUBA – A local court in Mundri West County of South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State on Monday jailed a pastor for one year for allegedly committing adultery.

Justin Abraham, Chairperson for Mundri Bench Court, said the pastor whose name has been withheld for privacy has been fined 250,000 SSP.

“Her husband has paid all her bridge wealth amounting to 300,000 SSP. The husband opened a court case against the pastor and we sentence the pastor to one year in prison for committing adultery,” Justin told Sudans Post on Tuesday.

Justin said the court also sentenced a woman to six months in prison over her faithlessness to her husband.

“The wife accepted that she has been having affairs with a pastor who got her pregnant. She said she does no longer want her husband, she only needs the pastor.”

He said the pastor had a secret affair with the woman for 7 months.

“The pastor who committed adultery is an educated man, he accepted that he impregnated her, saying that they have started their affairs since December last year,” he said.

Justin said this is the first time for the court to convict a man of God over an immoral act.

“This is for the first time for us to receive this kind of a case in our court. We have never had this case before, the last time we heard a case of this kind was in 1953,”

He described it as a “shameful” and “embracing” act.