The ManicaPost
Luxson Chananda Crime Watch
LOSS of life is probably the worst thing that can happen to people. Instead of succumbing to death through laws of nature, human beings find themselves at the receiving end of fellow human beings’ cruelty. Cases of murder still remain with us and people continue to take their own lives.
The call for people to respect the sanctity of life by the police sometime at the beginning of this year appeared to have been met with the public’s most responsive inner ear.
Cases resulting in people losing their lives then immediately assumed a downward trend but sadly, our province seems to be once again witnessing an upsurge in their occurrence.
The heinous crimes are once again rearing their ugly head amongst our people. Loss of life, both self-inflicted or at the hands of fellow human beings has left horrifying images permanently imprinted in the minds of victims’ relatives, friends, witnesses, and communities at large.
An over view of murder (the unlawful killing of a human being) would probably start with appreciating its many-fold states as they present before our law.
I refer here to offences like Infanticide (the killing of a baby by its mother within six months of birth under certain mental or emotional conditions), Culpable Homicide (the negligent killing of a human being) and even suicide (the killing of oneself) though not regarded as murder per se, this case shares the same causes leading to loss of life just like murder.
While the latter cases, appear forgiveable to some extent, it defies logic where someone walks up to pick an axe, probably sharpens it, and goes on to wield it with such force deliberately directed on fatal points of a person’s body resulting in gruesome murder.
Even police officers attending to the cases have had to endure heart-wrenching sights of human beings lying in states reminiscent of animals ready for the butchery. This surely, calls for heightened vigilance and concerted effort between the police, the public and other concerned stakeholders to play their part in bringing the scourge to a halt.
Although the scenario reflected above appears to be a narration that conjures up undesirable graphic images, unimaginable for the faint-hearted, it is a sad reality that the cases appear to remain stuck with us as long as we continue to pay lip service in addressing them. The majority of these cases, if not all, would have been avoidable had those close to victims and perpetrators been alert to their occurrence as a possibility.
Let us note here that the commission of murder in the most gruesome manner has previously been known to be by people who are not in proper control of their faculties like the mentally deranged. This does not seem to be the case now.
The previous edition of this paper carried a story of the Zimunya man who axed his uncle to death over an issue that appeared from the onset, petty.
Generally, the commission of murder cases has come as a direct result of unresolved conflict within the community especially among people who are closely related, the very people we all would expect to be available for each other in times of need.
Some reactions to conflict really leave us wondering whether the social fabric has broken to the extent of failing to address problems at their budding stage.
Think of the Murambinda man who on September 16, fired four shots from his rifle at his domestic worker but fortunately missed him giving the man an opportunity to flee and make a report to the police. Luck however, still remained on the elusive side because while the man was still making the report at the station, the police received a telephone call that the employer had turned the gun onto the worker’s wife and their two young daughters shooting them dead in cold blood.
One might wonder what the worker’s sin really was that called for the merciless killing of the three people he was obviously surviving for. The man was accused of having stolen undisclosed quantities of maize and rapoko from the fields.
Police, in the wake of these serious offences are appealing for cooperation from all members of our communities. Traditional leaders, church leaders, councillors, counsellors and all other stakeholders could take a leading role in developing interest in problems that subject their people to emotional strain, which in turn has the potential to turn violent.
Some areas in this province have been known to have communities perennially grappling with accusations and counter-accusations of witchcraft, unappeased vengeful spirits (ngozi), or even taut tensions caused by family feuds emanating from unresolved disputes.
We talk of such social ills like infidelity, money squandering, and even drunkenness among others. Relatives are urged to assist as much as they can in diffusing tension in estranged relationships.
On the other hand, it cannot be disputed that ritual killings, seen mostly in mutilations and detached missing body parts particularly genitals on murdered people, have their berth in individuals that continue to prescribe ritual killing as good for luck or viable business.
Community leaders and other influential persons can help by widely campaigning against such practices and highlighting them as misguided myths and misconceptions that do not help in any way.
As the police intensify campaign against all forms of murder and general unwarranted loss of human life, let us all come together and share information on perpetrators and instigators of violent crimes. Let us all respect the sanctity of human life.
We take this opportunity to thank those that have already started using the police WhatsApp platform.
Please Keep crime tips rolling in on number 0771 411 441. Preventing crime is everyone’s responsibility.
ZRP Manicaland Province Press and Public Relations
