Trends and patterns of suspected infanticide cases autopsied at the Kacyiru hospital, Rwanda: A case report

Infanticide is defied as the killing of a child within 12 months after birth. More specifially, when a child is killed within the fist 24 hours after birth, it is termed as neonaticide. Despite the clear legislation on infanticide in Rwanda as enshrined in Article 143 of the Penal Code (2012), cases of infanticide are still remarked in large numbers. However, the actual incidence of infanticide in Rwanda and the whole world in general is not well known owing to the fact that the cases are not fully detected. We present two cases of newborn baby deaths that were investigated at the Kacyiru Hospital mortuary during one of the yearly interdisciplinary Forensic Summer Schools held in Kigali- Rwanda. This Forensic Summer School, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), is held every year since 2012 through cooperation between the Institute of Legal Medicine/ University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University of Rwanda.