Two people were killed in an elopement and ensuing dowry dispute in Pigi County of Jonglei state over the weekend, a local official has said. 

The incident happened on Saturday in the SPLA IO-controlled area of Khorwai when a father, now deceased, followed his daughter to the home she had eloped to.  

William Gatjath Deng, the military spokesperson for the SPLA-IO, yesterday told Radio Tamazuj that it was an intercommunal clash between the Khorwai and Cheng.

“How the fighting started is that a girl eloped so her father went to the people who took his daughter and then they killed him. So the deceased’s relatives also went and killed one from the other side to avenge him,” Gatjath said.

The SPLA-IO mouthpiece however said the issue had been resolved and that calm has returned to the area. 

Asked if it had no political ramifications, Deng said, “There is no politics involved in the matter because it is purely a domestic issue. It is not between the government and the IO. These people are all IO.”