GICUMBI Intermediate Court on Friday sentenced two men to life in prison after convicting them of separate charges of defilement and murder.The convicts are Théoneste Nyaminani, 22, and Wellars Ndacyayisenga, 21, both from Rulindo District.The victims in both cases are minors. Nyaminani was found guilty of defiling and later drowning a 16-year-old girl while Ndacyayisenga was convicted of murder of an 11-year-old girl and petty theft.Ndacyayisenga murdered the girl using a hammer, after she threatened to report him, having caught him stealing from her family.Earlier, prosecution, led by Azarias Nsengimana, said Nyaminani had met the victim on a road, raped her and drowned her in River Rusine in Burega Sector, Rulindo District.The incident took place earlier this month, according to prosecution. In the second case, the prosecutor held that the 11-year-old Sandrine Umutoniwase had found Ndacyayisenga stealing beans from her grandmother’s granary in Bushoki Sector.The susspects had both pleaded guilty.For both cases, the court had to shift its base from Gicumbi to Rulindo, where the crime was committed, and hundreds of residents turned up for the ruling that was held at the district headquarters.Rulindo is part of the jurisdiction of the Gicumbi Intermediate Court.Judge Jean Bosco Rutagengwa, who presided over the two cases, said court had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the two were guilty. He handed both convicts maximum sentences.Rutagengwa premised his ruling on Article 145 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that premeditated murder and defilement both attract life imprisonment with special provisions.As for Ndacyayisenga, the judge said he would serve the sentence for the major crime of the two he was convicted of, which is murder.None of the accused appealed for bail. Court also ordered a payment of Rwf5 million in reparations for each of the aggrieved families.
