According to Sunday Today, a sheep was arrested in Rumbek East County, South Sudan, earlier this month after attacking a woman in her 40s. The publication reported that the animal headbutted the woman repeatedly, breaking her ribs. The attack was so violent that the victim, who was identified as Adhieu Chaping, died as a result of her injuries.

As a result, the ram has now been sentenced to three years in a military camp in Aduel County headquarters in Lakes State. Discussing the peculiar case, Lakes State police spokesperson Mabor Makuac said, “Our role as police is to provide safety and separate fights. The ram was apprehended and is currently under custody at a police station in Maleng Agok Payam.”

Makuac added, “The owner is innocent and the ram is the one who perpetrated the crime so it deserves to be arrested then, later on, the case shall be forwarded to a customary court where the case can be handed amicably.”

As reported by UNILAD, authorities agreed with the sheep’s owner, a man named Duony Manyang Dhal, to pay something called ‘blood compensation’, which meant he was ordered to give up five of his own cows to the victim’s family. Additionally, it is believed that the owner will most likely lose the ram at the end of its sentence.

Customary laws in Lakes State state that any domestic animal that kills a person is then given as compensation to the victim’s family. In December 2021, a woman in the US died after being attacked by a sheep at a farm.

Kim Taylor was working as a volunteer at the Cultivate Care Farms in Bolton, Massachusetts, when she was badly injured. Speaking at the time of the event, Bolton Police Chief Warren Nelson stated, “Bolton Police, Bolton EMS, and Patriot ALS responded to the call and immediately began first aid after arriving at the scene. Authorities were told the woman, Kim Taylor, 73, of Wellesley, was alone caring for livestock in a pen when a sheep charged at her and repeatedly rammed her.”

“This resulted in Taylor having extensive, serious injuries before she went into cardiac arrest shortly after Bolton Police Officers and Patriot ALS arrived. Taylor was sent to Marlborough Hospital, where she later died from her injuries. She was still alive when we got there. It turned bad quickly. She was able to talk to officers,” Nelson concluded grimly.