Rwanda National Police

Rwanda National Police on Wednesday assembled a group of eight people accused of using witchcraft and brutally torturing a 17 year old mentally ill boy.

The lead suspect, Julienne Mukashema, who also claims to be a traditional healer, argued that she met the victim on the streets and took him to her house in Kacyiru Sector of Gasabo District where she apparently had a shrine, after learning that he had mental illness.

When Police arrived at Mukashema’s house in Kabizi Cell on Tuesday night at 09:30pm, they found the victim chained outside the house.

The victim had his hands tied behind his back with a metallic chain locked with a padlock and his waist strapped on a slab to keep him on the ground.

“There was a lot of noise coming from Mukashema’s home…people were drumming, singing and screaming on top of their voices, so we went there to stop the noise. Reaching their, we found the boy chained and he had been brutally beaten with bruises all over his body,” said the Central Region Police Spokesperson, Superintendent Modeste Mbabazi.

“Police immediately arrested Mukashema and her seven accomplices that were in house performing rituals on the victim in the pretext of treating him.”

“We have identified the victim’s family and we are in the process of taking him to the hospital for treatment. We encourage people to always report such malpractices.”

Mukashema confessed roughing up the victim arguing that it was means to ensure he doesn’t move as she performed her rituals on him.

She told Police that she’s a member of a cult called ‘Abarungi’ and claims that she is not willing to give up on her beliefs or her rituals.

“I have treated other people with mental problems and I always chain them and handle them the same way,” said Mukashema.

However, Mbabazi said: “What these people were doing to this boy is not traditional healing; traditional healers are registered and have an organized way of working. What these people were doing is criminal,” said Supt. Mbabazi.

According to Mbabazi, the suspects will be charged with torture and noise pollution.

The victim’s father, Vincent Sindikubwabo, said: “My son has had a mental problem since childhood, but he went missing in May this year. It’s just yesterday that a policeman identified him and notified me. My son is sick; he should not be tortured or mistreated in anyway.”

If the suspects are found guilty, they risk a jail sentence of six months to two years, under article 177 of the penal code on torture.