Gisuru : a 62-year-old woman found dead in a watering hole, questions about the circumstances of the tragedy

SOS Médias Burundi

Gisuru, October 8, 2026 — A 62-year-old woman, identified as Paoline Mbikiye, was found dead Tuesday around 12:20 p.m. in a watering hole in Nyagitika village, Nyabitsinda zone, in Gisuru district, Buhumuza province, eastern Burundi.

Alerted by the Nyabitsinda zone chief, the police went to the scene. The victim’s body was found in a small watering hole used by the local population.

According to her family, the village chief, and several residents, Paoline Mbikiye suffered from epilepsy. They favor the hypothesis of a seizure that could have caused her to fall into the water. The exact circumstances of her death, however, remain to be established.

The death occurred in a region where land disputes and suspicions of witchcraft sometimes fuel anxieties among the population. Some residents fear that the circumstances of the woman’s death may be linked to causes other than those mentioned by her relatives.

Her family, for their part, currently favors the hypothesis of an accident resulting from an epileptic seizure and has not presented any evidence to support any other version of events.

Following the investigation, the family, in consultation with the local authorities, decided to proceed with the burial of Paoline Mbikiye.