Karongi trio gets life for murder

Three men in Karongi district were early this week handed life sentences after being found guilty of hacking to death a 21-year old girl.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Three men in Karongi district were early this week handed life sentences after being found guilty of hacking to death a 21-year old girl.The deceased’s alleged boyfriend, Moise Sindikubwabo, 29, was sentenced alongside two accomplices identified as Anastase Ntawanganabose and Marcel Ngendabanyika.Karongi Intermediate Court heard that on February 10, 2012, Sindikubwabo and his co-accused stalked the victim, identified as Agatha Mukabera , until she entered her house.On that fateful evening, the trio, armed with machetes, are said to have taken strategic positions as they planned to execute their ill-fated mission.As she prepared to sleep, Mukabera, a former cashier at ESA Birambo reportedly moved out for a short call and that’s when she was beheaded in an ambush staged by the three.During the court hearing, Sindikubwabo had explained how he hatched the plan after Mukabera reportedly turned down his marriage proposal.Despite repeated denials by his co-accused, presiding judge Innocent Gahima found the trio guilty of premeditated murder and handed them the heaviest punishment in Rwanda’s penal code.Gahima based on a medical report signed by Dr Xavier Francois Hakizimana of Kacyiru Police Hospital which indicated that the victim had died of external haemorrhage.