A cow has been arrested for the murder of a 12-year-old boy

Police in South Sudan confirmed that they have detained a cow and its owner after it allegedly attacked a child near a farm in the nation's Lakes State.

It has been reported that the attack was so ferocious that the victim was killed instantly.

Major Elijah Mabor, a South Sudanese police spokesman, said: "The bull is now under arrest at a police station in Rumbek Central Country.

"The boy was taken to hospital for post-mortem and he was taken home for burial."

It is not the first time an animal has been arrested, charged and imprisoned in the African country as a ram was arrested and imprisoned last month for killing a 45-year-old woman.

Speaking after the ram's arrest, a police spokesman explained: "The owner is innocent [but] the ram is the one who perpetrated the crime so it deserves to be arrested.

"Our role as police is to provide safety and separate fights."

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