Mchinji, April 25: Linda Phulani, an 18 years old woman who was beaten severely by her husband in Mchinji has revealed her husband John Yasini forced her to join a Satanic Church but she refused.
Narrating her ordeal to the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati when she visited her on Friday at Mchinji District Hospital, Linda said her husband who openly smoked Marijuana (chamba) asked her to go to a satanic church near Guillime in the district but she refused.
Linda also revealed that on many occasions the husband could tie her legs and hands and beat her throughout the night, while her mother in-law listened in the other room and did nothing.
She alleged Yasini and his mother were engaged in Chamba (cannabis sativa) selling business and that is what brought food to their table.
Linda who looks young than her age, also revealed how she got married to her husband, saying on January 26,this year, she met the man who said he loved her and asked her to follow him to his house.
“I followed him yet, I did not know him and I did not tell my parents. When we reached his house he told me he wanted to marry me and I accepted and I never went back to my parents’ house despite their efforts to make me return home,’’ narrated Linda a standard seven drop out.
She said she suspected Yasini used charms to lure her into marriage, because she did not understand how she could follow a man she never met before and she was forced to wear some charms in her waist amulets (Zithumwa) every day at their marital home.
Linda also narrated that after being beaten by her husband leading to serious injuries; she was taken to a local witch doctor and stayed for ten days where the situation worsened and the witchdoctor alerted the police who arrested Yasini.
Kaliati said she visited Linda Phulani ‘after reading media reports about the misfortune that befell the woman, and am shocked to see her deep wounds, as government we won’t sit back and watch women being tortured like animals,’ she warned.
Phulani was severely beaten by her husband John Yasini with chains and steel rods sustaining deep cuts on her back at Kumbuyo village, Tembwe in T/A Mlonyeni in the district.
Kaliati said all perpetrators of such type of domestic violence would be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years and 20 maximum years in jail.
“I do not know what the husband was thinking beating his wife like an animal, unless he wanted to kill her, this wasn’t done out of love,” she explained.
Addressing a public a meeting later at Tembwe in T/A Mlonyeni’s area in the district, Kaliati said time has come for communities including traditional leaders and local community organisations to take a stand and sensitise the communities on the evils of domestic violence.
She advised women to walk out of marriage when their husbands abuse them saying persevering in the name of love is not a solution.
“When a husband beats and injures you run for your dear life, alert neighbours, chiefs and marriage counsellors for help,” she said.
She also advised girls not to drop out of school and get married saying education advancement in women could help reduce the burden of gender based violence on them.
“When women get educated it helps them distinguish those coming to them with honest intentions from those that come to deceive them.
“When you are not educated as a woman, most of the times you cannot make informed decisions hence you fall victim to domestic violence,” observed Kaliati referring to Linda 18, who dropped out of Standard 7 and eloped with her 20 year old Husband.
District Commissioner for Mchinji Yamikani Chitete said Mchinji district has recorded one of the highest number of domestic violence cases, but as a council they are sensitising the public on the dangers of domestic violence.
“As a council, in collaboration with the social welfare office, police and non-governmental organisations we have several programmes where we sensitise the public especially women to report any kind of abuse they face in marriage,’ she said.
Meanwhile investigations into the life of Yasini by the Mchinji District Social Welfare Office and Mchinji Police has revealed that 20-year-old Yasini has married eight times and the former wives were all victims of domestic violence.
Yasini is also said to have committed a cattle rustling crime but the case was solved by the concerned parties. Yasini is on remand at Maula Prison in Lilongwe pending trial, after being charged with unlawful wounding.
