‘Do not mock women who report abusive husbands’

CHOMA Magistrate Mbololwa Mukela has expressed concern over society’s tendency to mock and judge women who report their abusive husbands to law enforcement agencies, a trend she termed as being retrogressive to the fight against gender-based violence.

 

Ms Mukela said it is not right for communities to mock women who report their abusive and law-breaking spouses to the authorities.
She was speaking in Choma recently when she presided over a case where she threw out an application by a Choma housewife to withdraw an assault case against her husband.

 

In this case, Evans Simwale, 32, a brick-layer of Kamunza township, is charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his wife Mirriam Moyo on June 23 this year.
When the matter came up, Simwale pleaded guilty to the offence and told the court that he beat his wife following a dispute.
Ms Moyo immediately applied for the matter to be withdrawn on grounds that she was facing challenges in supporting her three children from the time Simwale was apprehended.

 

But Ms Mukela refused to grant application for withdrawal because GBV cases are rampant in the district.
“As much as i sympathise with you pertaining your grounds of application, I will not allow you to withdraw…this woman is helpless and you [Simwale] wanted to take advantage of the fact that she solely depends on you, that does not give you the right to beat her up, fighting does not solve problems,” she said.

 

Ms Mukela added:“I know, some people will start saying your wife is responsible for your detention; that should not be the case because he [Simwale] is the one who broke the law,” she said.

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