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Fairness Moyana recently in Dete
POLICE in Matabeleland North are taking advantage of murder induced funerals to carry out awareness campaigns on Gender Based Violence (GBV). This is in response to an upsurge in murder cases in the province. From January this year the province recorded about 30 murders mostly linked to crimes of passion while a few were over petty misunderstandings.
Police have been holding meetings with traditional and church leaders who command a large following in society seeking to empower them to deal with disputes in their communities. The province’s police spokesperson Inspector Siphiwe Makonese told Chronicle at the sidelines of the burial of Sithembile Luphahla who was allegedly stabbed by her husband last week after he found a WhatsApp love message in her phone, that police were intensifying campaigns by taking advantage of the large crowds that attend funerals.
“We’ve decided to take advantage of such events which involve murder to carry out campaigns around gender-based violence. The province has witnessed a sharp increase in murder cases with the latest one being the killing of Sithembile Luphahla,” said Insp Makonese.
“We’ve a mandate as the police of safeguard human life and the rate at which people are killing each other is worrisome hence we have intensified our campaigns to even reach mourners at funerals.”
Insp Makonese, who was accompanied by senior police officers from the Community Liaison and Victim Friendly sections, told mourners in Dingani, Dete, under chief Nekatambe, that they should resort to the traditional counselling system of dealing with misunderstandings such as engaging elders of the family or community.
“It’s very disheartening to note that people are killing each other over trivial issues such as sim cards, beer brawls and love triangles when these can be resolved through dialogue.
“We appeal to you to make use of traditional or community systems to deal with problems whether in marriages or families,” she said. Insp Makonese said men were at fault by refusing to accept peaceful resolutions to disputes, primarily in broken-down marriages and as such were the major perpetrators of GBV.
Dete has recorded five murders this year, with three people having been killed over trivial issues that included misunderstanding over a SIM card, a clash over a girl and stray livestock. Earlier this year the province was shaken following the gruesome killing of a Binga woman by her husband who decapitated her after she had ditched him.
A week later four people were found dead in their car along the Binga road after being shot in a suspected botched poaching deal. Last month police arrested a 22-year-old woman who strangled her newborn baby before burying it in a shallow grave after the father’s child had denied responsibility.
Online Reporter