BUPOTO, Uganda (RNS) — Residents of this eastern town of Uganda are still in disbelief months after police arrested a 48-year-old pastor accused of hacking his 44-year-old wife to death.
“The pastor killed his pregnant wife because he suspected her of having an extramarital affair with another man in this area,” said Irene Mukasa, a resident of Bupoto, about the Jan. 4 slaying.
“We are still in shock because no one is safe. Even men serving God at different levels have also become perpetrators of domestic violence.”
Mukasa said such crimes in the region and across the country have left the majority of women to live in fear and avoid expressing themselves freely before men and in public.
“Such attacks instill fear in women so that they are not able to question anything or defend themselves against any accusations or abuse,” said the 38-year-old mother of three.
Regional police spokesperson Rogers Taitika confirmed the slaying, saying the pastor was arrested two months ago and charged with murder.
Taitika lamented the increase in cases of domestic violence in the region, noting that his office had recorded over 70 cases of domestic violence and four murder cases from January to June 2023 alone.
“The situation is getting worse, and something needs to be done urgently to save lives and protect our families,” Taitika told Religion News Service.
“I want to urge people, especially couples, to seek legal redress rather than resorting to violence.”
The case of the pastor’s wife has prompted religious leaders across the country to launch a campaign to fight gender-based violence, which takes many forms, including domestic violence, child marriages, sexual violence, partner violence, economic violence, and psychological and emotional abuse.
The first-ever stand-alone National Survey on Violence Against Women and Girls conducted by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics and supported by the U.N.’s Women Count program in 2020 revealed shocking findings.
Religious leaders have said that lack of awareness or knowledge prevents victims, who are primarily women, from detecting and reporting gender-based violence to the authorities and enables perpetrators, most often men.
In central Uganda, the Anglican Church of Uganda has taken its awareness campaign against domestic violence to schools, homes, markets, villages, towns and other public places to ensure people are educated on how to detect and report any form of domestic violence or GBV to the authorities.
The bishop of Mukono Diocese, Enos Kitto Kagodo, said church representatives are visiting schools to educate teachers on how to identify signs of abuse among children and how to appropriately respond.
“Children suffer emotional and psychological trauma when they see their parents fight, divorce or kill each other as a result of intimate partner violence,” said Kagodo, noting that the church is constructing a rehabilitation center that will be used to accommodate children and parents who are facing domestic violence and abuse.
In northern Uganda, some Pentecostal churches are sending representatives from house to house in some of the remotest locations to talk to men and community leaders about how to respect and love women and children.
Bishop John Babu of Arua Pentecostal Church said there were high numbers of GBV cases in northern Uganda, and most of the victims were women.
