Nyarugenge Primary Court yesterday remanded for 30 days two men charged with killing a female student from the University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology. The two suspects, Emile Niyigaba and Emmanuel Nsengimana, were apprehended earlier this month and were charged for killing Sandrine Imanishimwe, who was found dead at the institution’s campus in Kigali on September 8. The 21-year-old’s body is said to have been found with injuries on her head. Niyigaba was the deceased’s boyfriend, while Nsengimana is his close friend. In denying bail to the duo, the judge based on the fact that there was enough strong incriminating evidence against them, including their own confession to have committed the crime. This was during an earlier interrogation. Among other reasons was the gravity of the crime which on conviction attracts a life sentence. According to the judge, the implication is that at any opportunity presented to the suspects, they may flee from justice, hence remanding them for 30 days pending the conclusion of the investigation and substantive trial. The prosecution had presented evidence that during an interrogation that followed their arrest, the two admitted that they had indeed conspired to kill her. According to prosecution, the suspects said they had strangled Imanishimwe using a scarf before they hit her on the head with a metallic object which killed her. Among other things, the prosecution presented evidence that Niyigaba and Imanishimwe had challenges in their relationship, and only a day before she was killed, she had written to him calling it off. She had accused the boyfriend of being unfaithful. The prosecution had asked that court remands them, saying that they were a flight risk, should they be given bail. The suspects were arrested from Huye District, where they are both said to hail. It is said that the murder took place on the school premises, but the suspects had said during interrogation that they pulled her body and placed it near a path where she was later discovered by fellow students. However, during the court hearing, they both changed the story and instead denied the charges saying that they had pleaded guilty under duress. The prosecutor said that these claims were fabrications by the accused, saying that they made these statements out of their volition. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
