Rumonge : the provincial court sentenced a young man who killed his nephew to 20 years in jail

Ernest Ndayikeza was tried at the end of a flagrant trial on Saturday. It took place at the Rumonge First Instance Court (southwest Burundi).

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Ernest Ndayikeza, 20 years old, pleaded guilty, according to eyewitnesses who attended the hearing that took place at the Rumonge court on Saturday. He spoke of a voice that pushed him to commit the murder of his nephew.

“A voice came into me. It forced me to sacrifice a person, without which I would not be able to survive,” he told the judges.

And he added, “I almost killed my own father.”

The murder for which Ernest Ndayikeza was convicted took place Friday afternoon in Murara village in the Rusabagi zone in the Burambi district in Rumonge province. Some local sources believe that the act was linked to land disputes. The young boy (7 years old) who was murdered, decapitated, lived with his grandparents. His mother, a sister of his murderer, had him before getting married in Makamba province (south) and was considered to be one of the children who should inherit from his grandfather.

However, other residents believe that the perpetrator of the murder had mental disorders. “He even tore up his school certificate”.

The public prosecutor had requested life jail against him. The defendant who was arrested Friday was not assisted by a lawyer.

The trial did not last twenty minutes, witnesses noted.

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Defendants in a courtroom in southwest Burundi, November 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)