Salaymatu Jalloh, a thirteen (13) year-old girl have been reportedly killed in the bondo bush after undergoing female genital cutting initiation into the female secret society in Kabylor Village and Bubuya village in the Tonko Limba Chiefdom, Kambia District.
The matter was reported at the Sierra Leone Police in the Madina Police Station on Tuesday, 2nd January 2024.
Persons of interest in the matter were brought to the Kambia Police Station on Wednesday, 3rd January 2024, for further investigation.
The main suspects in the matter were the Sowei (initiator) Barlay Turay who is currently in police custody with two others including the mother of late Salaymatu Jalloh and the grandmother who allegedly took the decease to the Sowei to be initiated.
The father of the late Salaymatu Jalloh, according to report was never knew about his daughter’s initiation until when he received the sad news about her daughter’s death in the bondo bush.
According to reports the father got the information of his daughter’s death via a telephone that she has died in the bondo bush through FGM initiation.
Police report says, Salaymatu Jalloh died as a result of excessive bleeding after female genital cutting.
The remains of the late Salaymatu Jalloh are still in the village, although there was an attempt to secretly bury her in the village bondo bush.
However, through the intervention of the Sierra Leone police, the body has been kept in the mortuary pending investigation and post-mortem.
In another development, another death has been reported to have occurred in Bubuya village Tonko Limba Chiefdom.
Speaking to the Executive Director of the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM), Rugiatu Neneh Turay, this is the second FGM death reported within a short period.
According to Neneh Turay, a lot of girls are facing similar ordeal, but parents and community stakeholders do sweep these cases under the carpet unknown.
She vowed to follow these cases to the latter as they have done in previous cases in Bonthe, Bombali, Tonkolili, Kailahun districts among others.