A man from the North West allegedly killed his female partner before hanging himself.
Police spokesperson Colonel Adéle Myburgh said after the awful domestic violence and gender-based violence (GBV)-related murder of a woman in Mahikeng last week, police in Phokeng received another horrific and tragic murder and suicide complaint around lunchtime on April 28.
“The case was reported by the neighbour, following the gruesome discovery of the lifeless bodies of a couple in their home at Moime section in Serutube village. The female victim, aged 42, suffered and succumbed to serious injuries and the male partner (perpetrator), aged 65, was found hanging from the rafters,” said Myburgh.
The police have concerns about the high prevalence of domestic abuse, GBV, and femicide-related offences, which are sometimes blamed and misattributed to weak, inadequate, or inefficient policing.
Major General Patrick Asaneng, the Acting Provincial Police Commissioner, stated that no amount of police stations, Victim Friendly Rooms, protection order enforcement, or police visibility patrols will eradicate the societal ills of domestic violence and GBV, which are perpetrated inside homes, schools, and in some cases, by fake traditional healers and pastors in places of worship.
“What is disturbing and deeply concerning is that when these incidents occur and are reported, the communities, social commentators, civil rights activists, social and mainstream media immediately get into highly reactive public apportionment of blame instead of rationale diagnosis of a societal crisis.
“Imbizos, men’s conferences, arrests and other current interventions are clearly ineffectual and therefore a serious paradigm shift is what the country needs regarding the correlation between substance abuse, violence and immorality in society,” said Asaneng.
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