Nip crimes of passion in the bud
Published On October 7, 2017 » 2598 Views» By Davies M.M Chanda » Opinion
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There is now no denying that there is an increase in crimes of passion in Zambia and this problem needs to be addressed before it reaches unmanageable levels.
Some experts define a crime of passion as  a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as sudden rage rather than as a premeditated crime.
To prove how rampant this problem has become in Zambia , all one has to do run  through the daily papers everyday and chances are that you will come across a story about a husband or wife having battered or in extreme cases killed their partner.
We have over a long time carried numerous stories of men and women who have killed their lovers or spouses, we won’t mention the names of the people involved because some of the cases are still before the courts of law.
In  June this year, the  Non Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) Executive Director Engwase Mwale bemoaned the increased cases of passion killings after a Nakonde man killed his wife and her suspected lover in front of their children in Lusaka.
Ms  Mwale called on stakeholders to work together in addressing the root causes of spouse killings in order to find a lasting solution.
It is sad to note that today we are again running a story about a young woman who is alleged to have been murdered by her lover in yet to be explained circumstances in Lusaka’s Meanwood Ibex residential area.
What makes this incident even more heat breaking is that the couple’s two year old daughter was also shot in the process but we thank God that she survived and she is now recuperating in hospital after surgery.
As a nation we cannot allow this bloodletting to continue unabated in our homes.
Its against this background that we are calling on stakeholders such as the Government, Church, NGOs and traditional leaders to come together and find a solution to this problem.
Because of Zambia being a Christian nation, we are imploring Pastors, Priests and other men and women of God to redouble their efforts in preaching the message of love to their congregants.
We believe that if our men of God spent just a few minutes during their sermons to speak out against domestic violence and crimes of passion this to some extent would help in addressing the problem.
We also call upon NGOs and other groups that work with the people at grassroot level to carry out sensitization programmes on how to spot the tale-tell signs of an abusive relationship that can lead to violence and death of a partner.
Studies show that most people ignore the red flags in their relationships in the hope that their partner will change after some time, unfortunately this is never the case.
The rule is never to take it lightly if your partner slaps you or threatens to kill you each time you differ. The best thing to do is to seek help immediately, doing this might just save your life.

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