As the Genocide against the Tutsi continued across various parts of the country, a reoccurrence of mass killings happened in Musambira sector, Kamonyi district on May 14, 1994, claiming many lives. The area had earlier been targeted by the killers, specifically between April 18 and 20, when Interahamwe killed many people and scattered many more from their homes. ALSO READ: First-ever Genocide memorial in Asia-Pacific set to be launched On May 14, 1994, the brutality resurfaced in the area against the survivors from earlier massacres who had sought refuge at the Musambira Health Center. Authorities, purportedly aiming to protect them, instructed Tutsi individuals to gather at the health center and offered the prospect of building shelters, given that their homes had been destroyed. However, on that fateful day, attackers besieged the Health Center, claiming the lives of all the men present. While exact figures remain undocumented, reports indicate that numerous corpses littered the area, and Tutsi women were ordered to remove the bodies, many of which were their husbands. ALSO READ: The purpose of Genocide memorials: Condemning ideology, not descendants On the same day, in the Cyarwa and Tumba areas of Huye district, similar atrocities took place when an extremist named Joseph Ryaragoye took to the microphone, falsely assuring Tutsi women and girls to come out of their hiding since peace had been restored by the government. Believing his words, many came out of hiding and returned to their abandoned homes, only to be hunted and killed over the course of five days. ALSO READ: Genocide cannot be mentioned in isolation, without adding the targeted group Xaverine Mukacyaka was among the first to fall victim, followed by other young girls such as Gaudiose Uwiragiye (Jolie), Symphrose Kankindi, as well as older women like Suzanne Nyiramirimo, Therese Nyirahabimana, and her two children, Gratia Mukantwari and Kayisire. The victims were forcibly taken from their homes and mercilessly killed and their bodies were discarded into a pit at a neighbour's residence.
