Four men and one woman have been arrested on charges of allegedly murdering a 2 year-old boy in Tabagwe sector, Nyagatare district in Eastern Province, according to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau.

According to local officials, the child was abducted on the morning of Tuesday, March 10 after his mother placed him down a few metres away from where she was tendering to her garden. After noticing that the child had disappeared, the mother alerted her neighbours and a search ensued.  "The family of the child worked together with other members and ended up finding his body in the toilet of their neighbor in the evening of that day,” said Celestin Munyangabo, the Executive Secretary of Tabagwe sector. Munyangabo also added that: "The body was found when some parts of the child’s body like tongue and private parts had been removed.” Asked whether there were conflicts between the family of the child and the neighbor where the body parts were found, the official noted that "there was no recorded case.” However, RIB reiterated that: "All will be determined by the ongoing investigation.” According to RIB, if the suspects are convicted, they face a lifetime sentence. "If the accused are convicted, they will be punished with a lifetime imprisonment as per Article 107 of our Penal Code which stipulates that a person who intentionally kills another person commits murder,” RIB Spokesperson Marie-Michelle Umuhoza told The New Times.