Kirehe-Bonifase Ndayambaje, 23, a resident of Rwagikona Village in Mushikiri Sector, is being held by Nyakarambi police for allegedly killing a 61 year old woman. Loencie Nirere met her death on Friday morning on the way from visiting friends. The accused admits the crime but says it was an accident. Talking to The Sunday Times, the suspect said that the woman practices witchcraft that was responsible for his family’s series of misfortunes. “She had just picked my clothes from my house...so, when I saw her, she run away...in the process she fell down and died instantly. I admit the crime because I fell hard on her in the scuffle,” he said. Esther Kanakuze, a neighbour the deceased had gone to visit that fateful evening, noted that the old woman had been targeted for quite some time. She said that she saw someone trailing them as she escorted the old woman back to her house at around 8PM. “There is no doubt that the man we met holding a torch was the killer...I couldn’t identify him because of the darkness, but he followed us in a very suspicious manner,” she said. Odette Uwamariya the Governor of the Eastern Province, who visited the Sector after the incident, castigated the murder, and called for severe punishment to whoever will be found guilty.. “Conflicts ending with such brutality and killings must be stopped. I want heavy punishment to be imposed on the killer to deter potential criminals,” she said. stephen.rwembeho@newtimes.co.rw
