A 25-YEAR-OLD man in Maraba sector, Huye District was on Tuesday charged with the murder of his step mother in an incident which has shocked residents in his village.Damascene Nsabimana is accused of stabbing to death his step mother, Speciose Nyirahuku, 60, on January 6.The suspect was arraigned before Huye Intermediate Court in a public hearing conducted at Maraba sector offices.Officials said the court took the trial to the rural Maraba sector to enable residents follow the proceedings.The hearing attracted many residents who turned up to follow the chilling testimonies.The suspect pleaded guilty but said he acted in self-defence against what he called the victim’s quest to bewitch him.He claims to have at one time had mental problems after being biwitched by his stepmother.During the hearing, prosecution, represented by Lydia Uwanziga, alleged that the murder was premeditated, which calls for maximum sentence.Uwanziga ruled out the possibility of deliberate involuntary manslaughter as advanced by the defence team, noting that the suspect couldn’t have accidentally stabbed the victim thrice in the throat.Prosecution requested court to convict the accused of murder and asked for maximum sentence (life in jail) against the accused.However, the defence lawyer, Steven Karinganire, argued that the death was accidental and asked court to consider the incident as an offence of bodily injuries resulting in involuntary manslaughter.The two offences attract different sentences. While premeditated murder carries life imprisonment according to the penal code, battery or bodily injuries which result into death carry a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years.Karinganire told court to consider as a mitigating factor, the fact that the suspect turned himself in after committing the offence.He also said the fact that he is a first offender and is young should call for a lenient sentence to allow him reform and return to serve his community.Judge Londa Nyirahuku (not related to the victim) has set today (Friday) as the day to deliver the verdict.
