Of men, women and crimes of passion

 Commonly referred to as ‘passion killings,’ former Botswana President Festus Mogae once chose to rather call them ‘hatred killings.’ He then made it public that he was disappointed by judges, police and women over the killings. It was during that era of Mogae’s tenure that Botswana actually experienced an increased spate of such killings.

During the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, Mogae stated that he was worried about domestic violence against women, adding that he was mostly disappointed by the leniency given by judges and police when handling such cases. “There is no passion in these heinous crimes. You can’t refer to these crimes as passion killings when they use knives to slay women,” he declared. “This is hatred killing,” he was quoted. According to the director of Kagisano Women’s Shelter Lorato Moalosi, men today have lost the meaning of love.

They abuse and kill women. This she says happens to both singles and married people. “Married men hide behind Bogadi (bride price) and abuse women and remind women that they have paid for them, which can even lead to murder when she wants out,” she says. In 2016, they attended to 831 cases of women complaining of abuse. A total of 189 clients were married, 23 divorced, 38 cohabiting and 567 single. The rest were widowed. Shelter admissions rose from 55 in 2015 to 67 in 2016. There were also cases of human trafficking whereby seven young women under the age of 20 were victims. Women with either a University Diploma or Degree or other tertiary qualifications are the most abused, according to Moalosi.

“We don’t dispute violence against men but it is higher than violence against women,” she says. Bangwaketse Paramount Kgosi Malope II says that even though crimes of passion existed in the past, they were not as rife as now. He says that boys and men today cannot say ‘NO’ when a woman wants out. He says that they do not know how to handle rejection. “These days they remind of everything they have done for them. For example, money spent on smartphones and clothes. Then they kill them.

And they are very impatient,” he says, adding that people should seek advice from diKgosi, churches, social workers and parents when having conflicts in their relationships. According to Botswana Police Service statistics, in 2013 alone, 747 people were murdered by those who claimed to love them since 2003. Females accounted for the largest number of victims – 689, compared to men, 57. However, the figures keep rising each year, and the police have promised to avail them.