Rutana: resurgence of domestic violence and murders of spouses in the provincial capital

Domestic violence and murders in the capital of the province of Rutana (South-Eastern Burundi) increase. In just two months, one woman was killed and another narrowly escaped death. The suspects are their spouses. Human rights defenders call on justice to do its job. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Twenty years of penal servitude is the sentence pronounced by the High Court of Rutana last Thursday against Jean Marie Ndayisaba in a flagrante delicto trial. This man from the Birongozi district in the provincial capital was guilty of “attempted assassination of his wife Pascaline Nduwimana”, on the night of October 2-3, 2022.

Jean Marie Ndayisaba seriously injured his wife in the throat with a knife while she was sleeping.

She is still bedridden in Rutana hospital where her state of health remains critical.

On August 13, Nicolas Nikoyagize, a colonel in the Burundi National Police (PNB) killed his wife during the night in the same neighborhood, according to his neighbors. The officer was never questioned about the circumstances of the death of his wife, with whom he was not on good terms.

This officer from the former CNDD-FDD rebels reproached his wife for not having had children.

Human rights defenders are asking the courts to also investigate the murder of this woman.

They demand severe penalties in such cases in order to discourage this phenomenon.