Online Reporter
Theseus Mauruki Shambare
A women’s rights organisation has raised alarm over the rising number of deaths linked to domestic violence, calling for the cases to be treated as a national crisis.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana director Ekenia Chifamba said the organisation had documented at least 13 women and children who died in domestic violence-related incidents between June and September 2026.
The organisation said the victims included women and children from several communities, with some of the incidents also involving men.
Recent fatal cases include the deaths of Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Commissioner Dr Martin Muduva and his wife, Lyliosa Chirara, following a violent domestic incident at their Dzivarasekwa Extension home earlier this month.
Police said Dr Muduva died at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals after sustaining serious injuries in an alleged attack, while Chirara died after allegedly ingesting rat poison. Police investigations into the circumstances surrounding the deaths are continuing.
In a separate case, a 61-year-old Mberengwa man, Manford Mchede, died after allegedly being struck several times with a farm brick during a domestic dispute.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said Mchede and his wife, Thokozane Tshuma, were at Village Mnandi on September 20 when a misunderstanding allegedly escalated.
“The situation allegedly escalated into a physical confrontation, during which the suspect is alleged to have picked up a farm brick and used it to strike the now deceased several times,” Mahoko said.
Tshuma has since been arrested and remains in custody. Chifamba said Shamwari Yemwanasikana was concerned by cases in which disagreements over childcare and family matters allegedly escalated into fatal violence.
“We are witnessing a lot, not just domestic disputes, but femicide, where minor disagreements over childcare or family matters are escalating into brutal killings,” she said.
She said children who survived some of the incidents faced trauma, neglect, stigma and exploitation after witnessing their mothers’ deaths.
“As an organisation that empowers the girl child, we believe that if a girl grows up seeing her mother being killed by her own father, her future is destroyed,” Chifamba said.
She called on the Zimbabwe Gender Commission to use its constitutional mandate to elevate the issue with Government, Parliament and the Ministry of Women Affairs.
“This is a national crisis and should be treated likewise,” she said.
Chifamba also urged the Department of Social Welfare, Victim Friendly Unit, civil society organisations and funding partners to provide safe shelter and psychosocial support to affected families.
She said Shamwari Yemwanasikana would continue engaging policymakers and communities while encouraging both women and men to seek help before domestic disagreements turn violent.
