A popular Rwandan rapper known as Jay Polly died in custody early Thursday, officials and media reports said, the second detained musician to die in mysterious circumstances in less than two years. Polly, whose real name was Joshua Tuyishime, was being held on drugs charges and had found out on Wednesday that he was due to stand trial in December eight months after his arrest.
Rwanda’s Correctional Service said Tuyishime and two of his friends had consumed a mixture of aftershave alcohol, water and sugar, and that an investigation had been launched into his death. The 33-year-old was first taken to the prison hospital on Wednesday evening for treatment and then transferred to Kigali’s Muhima Hospital when it became clear he was still ill, it said in a statement.
Muhima hospital director Pascal Nkubito told AFP he was brought in at about 3 am (0100 GMT).
“He was in a bad shape and unresponsive. Doctors tried to revive him but he unfortunately died shortly after,” he said. “The cause of death is not something I want to speculate about. We will know that after the post-mortem.”
The musician was arrested at his home in April for hosting a party in violation of Covid regulations and was later paraded along with other suspects in front of the media. Police said Tuyishime and other defendants were found to be drinking and in possession of marijuana and fake negative Covid certificates. He had denied the charges but requests for bail were rejected.
Parties are banned in Rwanda because of the coronavirus pandemic and thousands of people have been detained for breaking restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the disease. Some have been forced to spend cold nights in open-air stadiums and to listen to Covid-19 guidelines on loudspeakers, while others have been held for weeks in detention facilities.
The country of 13 million people has registered more than 88,000 cases of Covid-19 of which over 1,000 have been fatal
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