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. Ends
