Burundi Refugee Arrested for Killing Wife in Ritual Sacrifice

Isingiro Police is holding a 30-year-old Burundian refugee on suspicion that he sacrificed his wife to get riches. The suspect is identified as Pio Simiyimana, a resident of Kitwe Kyembogo Village in Rushasha Sub-County, while the deceased was only identified as Rozario.

Rwizi Region Police Spokesperson Samson Kasasira says that the suspect was lured into using witchcraft as a source of wealth, and at a point of no return, he was advised to kill kill his wife as a sacrifice. He subsequently went into hiding until yesterday when he returned to the village, forcing suspicious residents to demand the whereabouts of the wife, who had been reported missing.

Upon interrogation, he confessed that he had killed her and buried her body behind their house. He was arrested and taken to Rushasha Police Post and later transferred to Rugaaga Police Station. The police are however pursuing a court order to exhume the body for postmortem as part of the ongoing investigations.

Kitwe Kyembogo Village Chairman Frank Akampulira says that the incident of murder might have happened on Monday, January 17, 2022. However, residents became suspicious later when  Rozario did not show up in her garden on Tuesday and reported a case of a missing person at Rushasha Police Post.

He says upon arrest, Simiyimana disclosed that he had killed the wife and took her blood to a witch in Kampala in pursuit of material wealth.