Ntega : nine women killed by their husbands in one year

Residents of Ntega districts in Kirundo province (northern Burundi) have called for the death penalty to be reinstated to execute anyone who perpetrated murder. This request comes following an assassination of a woman from the village of Monge, which occurred on January 23. At least nine women were killed by their husbands in this district between January 2022 and January 2023. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

In a meeting held last Thursday by the governor of the province of Kirundo, residents of the district of Ntega spoke about cases of assassination perpetrated in recent months in this constituency.

Nine women have been killed by their husbands since the year 2022. The last case dates back to last Monday. A Burundian army chief corporal, Pascal Bizimana, assassinated his wife.

The Kirundo court sentenced him to life jail. He will also have to pay 25 million Burundi francs to his in-laws as compensation costs.

Eight days earlier, another woman, Sandrine Nibigira, in her thirties, had been found dead. Her husband, who is suspected of being the perpetrator of the murder, fled the locality of Musumba where they lived. Police say they are looking for him. The two women murdered in January join seven others who were killed by their husbands also in 2022, according to administration sources.

Residents of the district of Ntega demanded that there be “immediate execution of anyone who has perpetrated an assassination”.

They say they are shocked to see that criminals are not delaying in detention centers following corruption that plagues the judiciary.

“Most of crimes perpetrated are linked to impunity”, insisted a woman leader of this district.

Local authorities are also questioning the judicial system.

“The Kirundo prosecutor’s office is corrupt”, denounced a local authority, publicly.

Kirundo Governor Albert Hatungimana explained that a death penalty is not an option. The Burundian constitution abolished it.

More than 98% of inhabitants of the district of Ntega who participated in this meeting voted by a show of hands for the return of the death penalty against those convicted of an act of assassination.