University of Burundi: two students accused of infanticide in detention

A student at the University of Burundi, from the commune of Mugongo-Manga in Bujumbura province (western Burundi) killed a child she had just given birth to. According to witnesses, the girl wrapped the newborn in a bag and threw it in a trash can. A police source says the girl and her boyfriend were arrested and are held in a judicial police cell in the commercial city Bujumbura. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The girl lives in Building 5 at the Mutanga campus, the largest in the small East African nation. The crime was discovery this Monday.

According to our sources, students noticed that there was blood in the shower room of the same building and alerted.

“We found blood in the shower room. We were worried because we knew that there was a girl among us who was pregnant. We alerted the campus security officer,” said a girl from Pavilion 5 who spoke to SOS Médias Burundi on condition of anonymity.

According to a police source, the girl showed the place where she had dumped her newborn’s body. During a preliminary investigation, the suspect revealed the author of the pregnancy.

It is her classmate in the same Faculty of Sciences at the IPA (Institute of Applied Pedagogy). He is a native of the province of Muramvya in the commune of Bukeye (center).

The two students were arrested immediately. They are kept in a judicial police cell in the commercial city Bujumbura.