Domestic violence spur murders in Acholi - police

The police have attributed the rising cases of murder in the Acholi Sub-region to the rising cases of domestic and gender-based violence (GBV).

The Monitor has learnt that on average, the sub-region registers six cases of murder per week.

In an interview with this newspaper at the weekend, Mr David Ongom Mudong, the Aswa River region police spokesman, said: “In our analysis, the murder cases are rampantly arising from domestic violence. Most of these cases emerge from civil incidents where people have misunderstandings, yet the issues can easily be managed by the area chairperson and clan leaders.” He said contrary to the popular belief, men too are victims of domestic  violence but most of them suffer in silence. 

“Men are good at reporting the cases through social media, but they rarely consult the police,” he added.

According to Mr Mudong, the police have on several occasions reached out to the community by offering counselling services.

He encouraged couples to embrace the exercise.

Latest incident

He cited an example of former Gulu Municipal councillor and lawyer, Francesca Amony, who was last week remanded to Gulu Main Prison for allegedly stabbing her husband, Dr Joseph Etuk, to death.

According to police, Amony fatally stabbed her husband after a misunderstanding.

Dr Etuk was pronounced dead on arrival at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital where he had been rushed for treatment.

Ms Damalie Nachuha, the Aswa Region Police commander, said they have embarked on public sensitisation to curb the crime.

“We studied the trend and its causes. We have been having murders out of land conflicts, but now we are having murders out of domestic violence,” she said.

“We now want to go out to the public to sensitise them more on how to handle some of these conflicts and live harmoniously,” Ms Nachuha added.

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