Image credit: The Herald
Though Zimbabwe is not the only country to see a wave of violence against women, however it is among the most affected.
In one such case of domestic violence, a Chinamhora man reportedly fatally struck his wife with an axe several times on the head for refusing to name the man who he believed made her pregnant while he was away, an allegation she denied before her death.
Court papers did not state where Masiyiwa Kasirori (39) was when the late Constance Katiyo allegedly became pregnant and gave birth.
Kasirori from Ndoro Village appeared in court yesterday before Harare magistrate Dennis Mangosi charged with murder and was remanded in custody to April 1. Only the High Court can entertain his bail application.
Prosecuting, Lancelot Mutsokoti alleged that on March 13 this year an altercation arose between Kasirori and Katiyo.
Kasirori then started assaulting his wife all over the body, the State alleged, before he allegedly picked an axe and struck his wife several times, killing her instantly.
He was seen by their son holding the blood-stained axe and fleeing the crime scene, leaving his wife in a pool of blood.
He was arrested a few days later in Glendale.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe enacted the Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 5:16) on 26 February 2007. The Act came into force on the 25 October 2007. The Act addresses the following forms of violence: physical, emotional, sexual, economic and emotional abuse.
The Act also provides for protection and relief to survivors of domestic violence. The Act further aims to protect women and criminalizes domestic violence and such acts as abuse derived from any cultural or customary rites or practices that discriminate or degrade women.
Examples include virginity testing, female genital mutilation, pledging of women and girls for purposes of appeasing spirits, abduction, child marriages, forced marriages, forced wife inheritance and such other practices.
-The Herald/ Zwnews
