Teacher dies mysteriously after pay day

NYANZA – The body of a primary school teacher at Mweya Primary School in Nyagisozi Sector, Nyanza district was retrieved from Gihimbi stream on Monday Residents say, Wellars Ntirugirimbabazi, 31, who was on his way home from a local bar on Saturday night could have drowned as a result of the heavy downpour on Saturday that prompted the stream to overflow. However, according to Marie Therese Kubwimana, a relative of the deceased, the retrieved body was half naked, and the deceased’s trouser pockets were empty. “He did not have a single identification document and money on him despite having been paid his salary the same day,” she said, leading to suspicion of foul play. Augustine Sindikubwabo, the man who was last seen with the deceased is being held at Nyanza Police station for further questioning. In an interview with The New Times, Sindikubwabo denies any involvement in the deceased’s death. “I left him talking to an unidentified man on our way home, I later in the night went to check if he had arrived safely but did not find him, his mother told me that he could have spent the night at his relative’s house as he usually does,” said Sindikubwabo. The nabbed suspect maintained his innocence by insisting that the deceased drowned after heavy rains triggered floods in the area. Police sources say that they have taken the deceased body for a post mortem to ascertain the likely cause of death. “We got to know about the deceased’s disappearance from the man who was with him at the bar the previous night,” said Cyprien Rurema, a close neighbour, “he came to inquire if his friend had returned home the previous night.” After realising that Ntirugirimbabazi was nowhere to be seen, family members and neighbours began a frantic search down the stream where they were able to retrieve the deceased’s shirt. “On Sunday, we managed to stumble upon valuable leads in which after many hours of searching, we got the body on Monday at round 6.00 p.m following a tip off from a young boy who had gone to fetch water,” said Rurema. Ends