Bugesera: Distillery owner arrested after two workers die at her factory
Monday, August 02, 2021

Rwanda investigation Bureau(RIB) has in custody Beata Uwamariya the owner of Dusangire Ltd, a distillery that produces alcoholic beverages called Dusangire.

According to RIB, Uwamariya, 49, was arrested after two men working at her distillery reported died after they fell into a tank that contained alcohol. They died on the spot.

On learning about the incident, RIB says that she ordered her other employees to extract the bodies from the tank and stage-manage an accident to make it look like they slipped and fell into a water gully at the factory.

Speaking to The New Times, Thierry Murangira, the Spokesperson of RIB said that the businesswoman was being investigated for two crimes; involuntary manslaughter and concealing evidence to mislead a criminal investigation.

Murangira said that the suspect was arrested on Monday, August 2, while the incident took place on Sunday at the Bugesera-based factory.

According to Murangira, the two victims, both employees of the factory, were aged 25 and 18.

"We call upon everyone not to tamper with a crime scene but cause this is only aimed at subverting an investigation, which is a crime in itself," he said.

He stressed: "A crime scene must be protected; the evidence has to be preserved and everyone has an obligation to protect evidence at a crime scene to ensure investigators are not misled."

Uwamariya is now being held at Nyamata RIB Post while the investigation is ongoing for the case to be submitted to the prosecution.

Murangira added that the bodies have been taken to Rwanda Forensic Laboratory for a post mortem.

According to the Rwandan penal law,  involuntary manslaughter on conviction carries a prison sentence between six months and two years.

It may also attracts a fine of between Rwf500,000 and Rwf2 million.

And for destruction of evidence anyone who engages in any activities for the purpose of subverting a criminal investigation faces imprisonment of between two and three years.