Three Italian nuns were sexually assaulted and murdered inside their Burundi convent on Sunday afternoon. Police disclosed that all three victims of the twin attacks were of advanced ages. In an announcement made by authorities on Monday, an active manhunt has been launched for the arrest of the killers of the elderly nuns. Italian investigators identified the victims as Olga Raschietti, Lucia Pulici, and Bernadette Boggia.

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The preliminary report revealed that Raschietti, 83, and Lucia, 75, were both killed inside the convent on Sunday afternoon. According to authorities, the two elderly nuns were stabbed to death by their assailant. The suspect also beat one of the nuns with a rock before leaving the crime scene. Both victims were determined to be Roman Catholic nuns.

Boggia, 79, was the assailant's third victim in the same convent. She was found beaten and her head was severed from the body. Investigators believe that Boggia was killed in the early hours of Monday morning. "After the discovery of the two nuns who were brutally killed... the decapitated body of the third nun was found," Deputy Director General of Police Godefroid Bizimana said in a statement released to AFP.

In a statement from Father Mario Pulicini, one of the Italian Catholics priests serving in the same parish in Burundi, he shared that he received a call from the third victim in the middle of the night. The priest revealed that Boggia informed him of a noise she reportedly heard in the convent. Hours after her distressed call to Pulicini, the elderly nun was found dead.

"The body of Sister Bernadette was found lying in a pool of blood, her head decapitated, and her face bore signs of beating," the parish priest told AFP. "The perpetrators had abused her, as they had violated the other two sisters earlier," he added.

The diocese of Parma in Italy declared that the three elderly nuns were murdered during a failed burglary attempt at the convent. However, Burundi police officials have yet to positively identify a specific motive for the attacks. In addition, investigators point out that the burglary angle of the attack might not be feasible as no money was stolen from the Burundi convent.

Damien Baseka, a Bujumbura government administrator, disclosed that the suspect in the first attack was seen leaving the convent with a knife in hand. Police speculate that an accomplice must have hidden inside the convent and killed the third victim. At present, police spokesperson Colonel Helmegilde Harimenshi stated that three men are under custody for questioning.

Burundian Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza shared that the government was "appalled by such barbarity". The official then promised that the police would expend their best resources and efforts to arrest the perpetrators of such heinous crimes.

TagsOlga Raschietti, Lucia Pulici, Bernadette Boggia, Burundi, Rape, sexual assault, Murder, convent, Roman Catholic, Nuns, Godefroid Bizimana, Father Mario Pulicini, Italian nuns, Parma, Italy, Bujumbura, Damien Baseka, Helmegilde Harimenshi, Prosper Bazombanza