Gang Rape and Murder: Harrowing Testimonies of RSF Victims in Sudan
Agencies – Sudan Events
In a modest room in Khartoum, “Maryam” — a pseudonym — sits trembling, tears silently streaming down her face, struggling to whisper what happened to her, words catching in her throat.
In Sudan, victims of sexual violence are forced to suffer in silence, fearing the stigma and shame that often haunt them more than the crime itself.
A distressing report by Al Jazeera correspondent Asma Mohamed reveals shocking facts about systematic sexual violations targeting women and girls in Sudan amid a merciless war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Maryam had been attempting to flee the horrors of war in Al-Jazeera State, heading toward Khartoum early last year, only to find that the war’s terrors followed her even on the path to safety.
On a desolate desert road at sunset, her vehicle — carrying other passengers — was forced to stop at a military checkpoint. Among all the passengers, she was the sole victim.
A Terrifying Account
With a broken voice, Maryam recounts: “We were coming from Al-Jazeera State when they stopped us on the road. They made us get out. Two of them were talking to each other, then they called me aside… There was an empty room with a mattress, and he told me to lie down.” She pauses, then continues in pain: “After that, they both raped me.”
Maryam returned to the vehicle, shattered, while the other passengers averted their eyes. Her relative, who was with her, says: “She told us what happened to her, what they did, how many there were. They were, of course, Rapid Support Forces… After that, we took her to a doctor.”
From El Fasher, the tragedy repeats in even more horrifying terms. “Um Kulthum” — another pseudonym for a medical student — recounts in a nearly inaudible voice how RSF forces broke into her home and murdered her uncle in front of her eyes.
She adds: “There were four of us girls, including our neighbors’ daughters. The RSF raped us all — each of us brutally.”
These victims who spoke to Al Jazeera are just a fraction of a tragedy too vast to quantify. Dr. Imad Al-Din Abdullah Al-Siddiq, Director-General of the Maternity Hospital in Omdurman, revealed shocking details: the number of rapes is incalculable, and victims include not only women but also children and infants.
Even Infants
Dr. Al-Siddiq told Al Jazeera that more than 14 infants under two years old were sexually assaulted. He noted that most cases received by the hospital involved girls aged 11 to 23, the majority unmarried.
These harrowing testimonies have drawn international attention. UNICEF documented more than 200 cases of sexual assault against children since the beginning of 2024, including children under five and infants in their first year.
Meanwhile, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed that dozens of women and children suffered severe sexual violations during the RSF attack on the Zamzam IDP camp in El Fasher.
Human Rights Watch documented over 250 sexual assaults in Khartoum alone, the vast majority perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces.
While the disclosures of Maryam and Um Kulthum, along with the medical care they eventually received, have offered some relief, their haunted eyes carry burdens beyond words.
These shocking testimonies shed light on a systematic pattern of horrific violations that transcend battle lines, extending into the bodies of women, while justice remains absent for the victims of a war that continues to claim lives across Sudan.
Source: Al Jazeera
