GICUMBI HIGH COURT on Friday handed a life sentence to a man for killing his wife and two children.

Joseph Ndereyimana, 48, murdered his wife Esperance Mukamazimpaka and their two children in Cyungo sector, Rulindo District in September, court concluded.

Hearing of the case started last month but was adjourned until Friday November 21 when the suspect was sentenced at a public hearing. Court officials said that such open sessions were aimed at helping the public to follow proceedings and understand the justice system.

The prosecutor told court that Ndereyimana planned to kill his whole family, but two of the children survived with serious injuries. The injured children are still admitted to King Faisal Hospital in intensive care, officials said.

There was a somber mood as hundreds of residents, including family members of both the deceased and the suspect, listened to proceedings. Each side agreed that Ndereyimana deserved the heaviest possible punishment under the Rwanda law. Some even suggested a death sentence, but Rwanda has since abolished it.

"I can’t understand how a man can decide to kill his own family; he deserves nothing but death. Let him spend the rest of his life in jail where he won’t be seen again in public,” said one of the neighbours only identifying himself as Theophile.

Presiding Judge Harrison Mutabazi, the president of Gicumbi High Court, ruled that prosecution had proved that Ndereyimana committed the offence. Mutabazi ordered that the man, who was absent and had no lawyer to represent him during the hearing, should spend the rest of his life in jail.

Ndereyimana had earlier during the preliminary hearing admitted to murdering his family members, but insisted that he acted out of anger. He accused his wife of infidelity.

He however failed to justify why he killed innocent children. Neighbours and Police said the man and his wife often had wrangles that resulted into fights despite several interventions to reconcile them.