Barely a week after the country finished commemorating 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), a 30-year-old man in Dowa District has allegedly beaten his wife to death.

Dowa Police Station spokesperson Gladson M’bumpha identified the deceased as Mkalimbana Banda, 19, of Thambwe Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mkukula in the district.

In an interview, he said on December 11, the suspect returned home in the evening and allegedly started beating his wife.

“The suspect’s mother reprimanded him, which did not please the suspect who started beating his mother as well. Three granddaughters tried to rescue their grandmother, but the suspect assaulted them and they fled,” said M’bumpha.

An artist’s impression depicting the assault

He said he went back to his wife and continued assaulting her with sticks and she fell down dead on the spot.

“The three girls ran to report the matter to police but met officers on patrol who rushed to the scene where they found the woman lying dead in a kitchen,” M’bumpha said.

A postmortem conducted at Dowa District Hospital showed death was due to severe head injuries and loss of blood.

Meanwhile, M’bumpha said investigations are underway to arrest the suspect who will answer a charge of murder.

Speaking on November 25 when she presided over the launch of this year’s 16 Days of Activism Against GBV in Dedza District, Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati said despite many efforts and decades of commemorating the 16 days of activism, GBV continues to escalate in the country.

This year, the country commemorated the 16 days under the theme: ‘Unite! Activism to end gender-based violence in Malawi’, which resonates well with the rising cases of violence against women and girls.

According to data from the Malawi Police Service Victim Support Unit, GBV cases have risen from 13 002 from January to September in 2021 to 15 178 during the corresponding period in 2022.

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