Post-traumatic maternal survival: Genocide survivor’s account of witnessing husband buried alive a week after childbirth

In the discourse of post-traumatic maternal survival, few narratives are as harrowing and complex as that of Mukakarangwa Martha, a Rwandan woman who, just one week after giving birth, was forced to witness the brutal murder of her husband during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Mukakarangwa is the sole survivor among seven siblings. While the extermination of her entire family left deep scars, the memory that haunts her most is watching her husband—father of their three children—thrown alive into a mass grave, moments after she was nearly killed herself with her newborn in hand.

Giving birth in the shadow of death

In late March 1994, Martha went into labor amid rising violence and barricades throughout Kigali. Unable to reach a hospital, she delivered a baby boy at home in Kimihurura, a suburb of the capital. Her husband had gone out to find a safe route to the hospital but returned to find their child already born.

That very morning, a neighbor named Cyamahundo warned them that the Presidential Guard and Interahamwe militias were preparing to attack. Her husband tried to defuse the threat by telling the assailants that they had just welcomed a baby boy. The militia, instead, interpreted this as a threat to their cause.

They sneered: “So, you’ve given birth to someone who’ll grow up to kill us?”

Her husband bought them alcohol to buy time—but the false calm didn’t last.

April 6, 1994: A nation plunged into terror

The assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6 triggered a nationwide frenzy of killing. Fearing for their lives, Mukakarangwa asked her husband whether they should flee. His response was chillingly resigned:
“Where could we go? Every road is barricaded. If we’re meant to die, we will.”

On April 17, the attackers descended again. As the family tried to hide at Cyamahundo’s home, they were found and dragged outside. Mukakarangwa held her newborn while her husband escaped with their eldest child.

She and a group of others were taken to a nearby intersection—now close to the Kigali Convention Centre—where they were beaten with sticks. One soldier, known as Gisiga, struck her in the back so hard she felt her spine shift.

When she questioned the beating, he snapped, “Aren’t you a Tutsi?”
She replied, “I am.”
He hissed, “Then you’re a snake.”

They assaulted her, attempted to kill her baby, and raped a young woman named Josee to death. The attackers later returned her and her children home—only to come back with a military truck to finish the job.

Buried alive: Her husband’s final moments

By then, Mukakarangwa had learned that her husband had been found, beaten unconscious, and left in the street. The killers loaded him and others—alive—into the truck. As they reached a pit where sand had been mined, they shoved her husband in while he was still breathing.

“They threw him in alive,” she says. “Then they dumped the bodies of Josee and two young boys on top of him and covered them with dirt.”

Mukakarangwa and her children were told they would be executed later in the forest. They waited, expecting death.

A twist of fate: How she survived

An older soldier intervened, asking why a woman and her children, innocent of politics, should be killed. Others disagreed, but one militia member suggested they spare her temporarily, as they knew where she lived and could finish her off later.

Returned home, Mukakarangwa didn’t wait. She grabbed her children and fled to Richard’s home, where she asked for help carrying the baby.

She later reached her sister-in-law’s house, whose husband was not being targeted. There, she left the children and ran to Kicukiro, seeking help from a Burundian man named Alexandre. He was hiding over 30 people—and he took her in.

Alexandre bravely refused to hand over anyone to the Interahamwe, risking his life to shield those in hiding. He fed them and protected them until the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA/Inkotanyi) arrived.

Liberation and Recovery

When the Inkotanyi liberated the area, the Interahamwe fled. Survivors like Mukakarangwa were saved. Alexandre, knowing the area was secure, handed them over to the soldiers, who reassured them:
“We are the Inkotanyi. We are here to protect you.”

They were taken to safe areas, medically cared for, and gradually reintegrated into society.

Mukakarangwa speaks with deep gratitude:
“The Inkotanyi gave us back our lives. They comforted us through everything and restored peace.”

A life rebuilt

Though she was devastated by the loss of her husband and siblings, Mukakarangwa refused to let trauma define her. She raised her children, including the baby she cradled through the horror, who is now a grown man.

Her story stands as a powerful testament to maternal resilience, human endurance, and the enduring hope of survival—even in the darkest of times.