Ngozi: an Indian national gets 4 years and an expulsion from Burundi after serving his sentence

Four years of jail, ten million Burundi francs in compensation and five years of expulsion from the Burundian territory after having served his sentence, this is the sentence that the First Instance Court of Ngozi inflicted on an Indian national this Sunday in a trial in flagrante. The concerned person lives in the urban center of Ngozi (North Burundi). On November 30, he hit a young schoolgirl in the head with a long screwdriver. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The story shocked Burundians. Several comments have been made on social media.

In a flagrance hearing held this Sunday, the culprit was sentenced for “wilful assault” inflicted on a 13-year-old girl.

Tosif Ilyas, in his thirties, injured a 13-year-old schoolgirl. She greeted him saying “Yambu yambu Muzungu”, in English “hello hello white man”.

The young schoolgirl who was returning from school with her companions was seized by this Indian who hit her twice with a long screwdriver on the back of the neck, said witnesses to the scene who quickly alerted the police.

In a hearing that lasted at least two hours, in the presence of representatives of organizations fighting for children’s rights and of the National Independent Human Rights Commission CNIDH, the provincial court imposed on the perpetrator of the attack “a prison sentence of four years”. He will also have to pay a fine of 200,000 francs and 10 million Burundi francs in compensation.

Failure to pay this amount will result in Tosif Ilyas being sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The Ngozi court also forced him to “leave the Burundian territory for at least 5 years after having served his sentence”.

Last Wednesday, this Indian national known to be very violent towards children, according to residents, had spent less than half an hour in detention after the incident, which had disgusted the family of the little girl Jennifer Uwimbabazi and associations for the defense of children’s rights.

Several local observers hailed the provincial court’s ruling and thanked “everyone who got involved to ensure that he was re-arrested and tried”.