KAYONZA - Police in Kayonza district are holding a 27-year-old woman for allegedly killing her newborn baby which she later dumped in a pit-latrine.

Julienne Mukashyaka, a widow in Agasharu Village in Ruramira Sector, reportedly got rid of the infant moments after giving birth.

Police confirmed that Mukashyaka strangled her one-day old daughter and stuffed its body in a pit latrine near her house.

"The woman gave birth to a baby girl and committed the crime of infanticide. We found a rope around the neck of the baby and some clothes in its mouth, she could have used to suffocate the baby,” a Police source said.

Chief Inspector Richard Rubagumya, the Kayonza District Police Commander
(DPC) said the woman was arrested after some elderly women in the neighbourhood became suspicions and alerted the Police.

Francois Xavier Bizimana, the Executive Secretary of Ruramira, said that Mukashyaka had been secretive about her pregnancy and constantly denied being pregnant even after her mother in law had noticed her bulging tummy.

"But some women in the area got suspicious with her condition and inquired from her what had happened. The suspect later revealed that she had given birth to a still infant and decided to throw it in a pit latrine,” Bizimana explained.

The women then reported the matter to police which arrested her before ordering the community to exhume the infant’s body for post-mortem.

A post-mortem report at Gahini Hospital revealed that the baby was strangled to death.

Upon arrest, the suspect confessed to killing her baby, citing domestic problems.

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