Rumonge: a loincloth seller killed by police officers

Belyse Nimpagaritse died at dawn on October 15, 2024 at the Rumonge hospital (southwest Burundi). Suspected of illegally selling loincloths, she was beaten by PNB (Burundi National Police) officers before dying at the hospital where she had been rushed. Her family is demanding an independent investigation.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Belyse Nimpagaritse was arrested at Nkayamba, in the Rumonge town. She had 20 loincloths smuggled in this densely populated city in southwestern Burundi, according to the local police. The loincloths and the motorcycle on which she was sitting were seized.

Witnesses say she was thrown off her motorcycle abruptly as she arrived at a police barrier.

“The police officers on the scene manhandled her, beat her up before throwing her to the ground. Suddenly, she fainted,” our sources indicate.

When they realized she had lost consciousness, the same officers transported her to the provincial hospital where she died this Tuesday at dawn.

According to a medical source at Rumonge hospital, the victim’s body had injuries to the neck, ribs and knees. She also suffered trauma to the spleen while these police officers were beating her.

Police version

On October 15 during the day, the Rumonge police told local journalists that the trader fell off the motorcycle by herself. “She suffered from a heart condition,” they explained.

So far, no agent has been arrested. Belyse Nimpagaritse’s relatives are demanding an independent investigation to determine the circumstances of her death and punish the perpetrators.

In Burundian WhatsApp groups, the death of this woman has sparked outrage, with the majority speaking of a “shameful and inhuman action against a mother who is fighting to support her family at a time when even those who build castles with bribes are not worried”.

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A woman prepares food for fishermen returning from Lake Tanganyika in the morning in Rumonge (SOS Médias Burundi)