Alarm As Passion Killings Continue to Rise

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

15 May 2011

Killings sparked by domestic disputes and love gone sour are becoming more and more common in Tanzania, according to psychologists, religious leaders and those dealing with the victims.

They say crimes of passion involving the killing of wives, husbands and lovers are frequently being reported in the media, and some registered with the police.

Some of the cases being investigated by the police across the country are linked to jealousy, allegations of infidelity or family feuds caused by broken relationships.

The Police Force spokesperson, ASP Advera Senso, said records show that the passion murders have indeed been on the increase across the country in recent years.

He noted that such incidents and other related domestic killings are no longer rare crimes, but it is not easy to authoritatively establish reasons behind the increase.

However, the secretary general of the Pentecostal Churches of Tanzania, Dr David Mwasota, associated the trend to increasing unfaithfulness to God and influences of mostly Western culture.

A sociology lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Mr Emmanuel Shemagembe, also told them The Citizen on Sunday that the situation is alarming.

“Passion crime has become a big challenge to the society today, and is now a cause for concern,” he said.

But even as the crimes seem to be increasing, the law has not helped much to curb the trend, according to a 2008 report by the World Bank on demographics in the country.

A Dar es Salaam resident, Mr Ramadhan Hussein, has attributed the situation to the influence of foreign movies, soap operas, gangster music, literature, lifestyles and erosion of African traditions and values.

The 79-year old, a devout Muslim, said that during his youth, killing a person was not only a taboo but also something unimaginable, let alone the possibility that one could dare murder his or her second half.

Reported by Sharifa Kalokola and Polycarp Machira

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