SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE - Police in Huye are holding a female student from the National university of Rwanda for allegedly carrying out an illegal abortion.

According to the police, a second year computer science student, names withheld, was arrested on Wednesday  after her roommates passed information to police over allegations that she had dumped a prematurely born baby  within the campus hostels.

Upon being contacted by The New Times the accused denied having procured an abortion. She said that she had suffered from a miscarriage after suffering  extreme abdominal pains which might have triggered  ‘the complication’ prior to being taken to the University Hospital (CHUB).

"I knew that I was pregnant but I could not determine  the duration of the pregnancy. My roommates were not informed but  I had no plans to commit an abortion,” she said.

When contacted for comments, students close  to the accused told this writer that their colleague did not wish to share information with her friends regarding her medical complications.

The friends added that doctors who attended to her realised that she had aborted and offered her necessary treatment.

A doctor who gave his name only as  Dr. Hakizimana, who attended to the accused said that  the aborted baby  was over five months.

The doctor further informed this writer that he  had recommended to the accused to inform  her immediate  family to make burial arrangement for the prematurely born  baby.

"Normally when a woman miscarries or a premature birth occurs before four months, the hospital buries the foetus, but beyond that we normally shift the responsibility to the parents.”

Our sources revealed that the accused upon being handed over the remains of the aborted baby knowingly dumped it  in her room . Curious roommates later discovered that she was hiding the foetus  in a box.

The roommates  further revealed that they discovered the contents of the box  just before the accused  was about to leave the campus. It was at this juncture that the roommates alerted the police.

After her  arrest, the accused  told the police and this writer that she did not wish  her roommates to ascertain the contents of the box which she had used to hide the dead baby.

However, police and residents have linked this case to an incident where bodies of three prematurely  born babies were previously picked up in the university surroundings after being abandoned by unknown parents.

Illegal in Rwanda, abortion attracts a conviction between five and 20 years.

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