Renowned Rwandan rapper, Jay Polly, has died in a hospital in Kigali, the country’s capital.
Polly, whose real name was Joshua Tuyishime, was being held on drugs charges and had just found out that he was due to stand trial in December
The 33-year-old rapper was in jail awaiting trial on drug charges, and was rushed to a hospital early on Thursday.
In a statement, the Rwanda Correctional Service, which is in charge of prisons, said the musician had consumed a mixture of methanol disinfectant, sugar and water before he was rushed to hospital.
Muhima hospital director Pascal Nkubito told the local media that Polly was rushed to the hospital at about 3am while he was in a bad shape and unresponsive and doctors tried to revive him but he unfortunately died shortly after.
The rapper 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 in Rwanda 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.
Polly becomes the second Rwanda's musician to die in custody after musician Kizito Mihigo, whose music was banned by the regime of President Paul Kagame.
Mihigo, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2015 for conspiracy against the government but later released on pardon, was captured trying to cross the border in Rwanda's south.
He fell foul of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front in 2013 after composing songs that questioned the government's tight control of the legacy of the 1994 tragedy.
His music, once popular among the ruling elite, was swiftly banned.
Two years later he was accused of terrorism and raising support for an opposition political movement and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
His lawyers said prosecutors had little evidence to jail him. He was released on presidential pardon in September 2018.
