Kigali — Police on Sunday recovered a corpse of an infant from pit latrine in Juru village of Gasabo District, Kigali City. The baby is suspected to have been strangled and dumped by a reckless mother, police said.

Police arrested Perus Mukamwiza, a mother to four children, who also gave birth to the baby before dumping it. Police officers said Mukamwiza pleaded guilty of killing the newborn after she was interrogated. She is detained at Remera Police Station.

The body was found in a 30-metre deep pit latrine, stuffed with faeces and wrapped in rags. It also had a piece of cloth round the neck, which police officers said is a clear indication that the baby was strangled. According to residents the baby, believed to have been born after the normal nine months of pregnancy, was dumped in the wee hours of Thursday night last week. Mukamwiza reportedly divorced her second married husband only identified as Mundere last year, and neighbours claim they separated when she was pregnant to her dislike.

Her 14-year-old son, Didie Nkurunziza, confirmed the divorce of her mother from a man she married in 1994 after the death of his father, Kizito Nshimiyimana.