Lango women seek forgiveness for killing husbands

Women representatives in the Lango Sub-region are seeking forgiveness on behalf of women who killed for or tried to murder their spouses.

Looking so remorseful for atrocities perpetrated against men by fellow women in the past years, the women representatives on Friday, April 26, asked for forgiveness from men in a meeting where the Lango Paramount Chief-elect was present.

Women representatives in Parliament, female Resident District Commissioners and clan leaders knelt down before the Lango Paramount Chief-elect Michael Moses Odongo Okune as they pleaded on behalf of other women for destroying their marriages.

Those seeking for forgiveness were mobilised that same Friday by Ms Janet Ogwal Tian, a women leader of Atek Oyaga Bura clan during a meeting held at Lango Cultural Centre in Lira City.

Ms Ogwal said because of fear that their wives could one day kill them, hundreds of men from across the sub-region had already abandoned their wives for safety.

“We know we have killed or tried to kill you, our husbands, and we know we have not been good wives, we have wronged you. Please find a place in your hearts to forgive us, and please come back to us, we shall not kill you,” they pleaded. 

This was during a meeting to unveil a national steering committee for the coronation of Eng Dr Odongo Okune as Paramount Chief of the Lango ethnic group.

However, none of the more than 150 clan leaders who participated at the event indicated whether the women had been forgiven or would be pardoned in a near future.

Local leaders and non-governmental organisations say several families in northern Uganda (Lango inclusive) are breaking up due to the effects of domestic violence.

In the Lango Sub-region, domestic violence is mainly caused by disputes over family property, failure to provide for the family, drug and alcohol abuse and cases of infidelity.

Data from police indicates that a woman has killed or is trying to kill a person she loves on a weekly basis in the nine districts that make up the sub-region.

The most recent incident occurred in Amolatar District on April 24, where a 21-year-old woman allegedly stabbed her husband to death following a fight over a bedsheet and fled.

The suspect, who is a resident of Acilidwe Village in Namasale Sub-county, allegedly stabbed Patrick Ojok, 24, in the wee hours of Wednesday after they developed a misunderstanding over a bedsheet.

Mr Richard Okello, the deceased’s neighbour, informed police that the couple started quarrelling at 1am that fateful day, over who should use the line, prompting their intervention.

“As neighbours, we heard them quarrelling over a bedsheet. We came out and settled the matter, and the bedsheet was handed over to the deceased's wife,” Mr Okello said in a statement recorded at Amolatar Central Police Station.

However, at around 2am, the deceased reportedly started calling his neighbour Okello for help.

Mr Okello added: “On reaching Ojok’s door, I found him seated outside but bleeding profusely, and he told me he had been stabbed with a blunt object and that his wife had taken off.”

Superintendent of Police Patrick Jimmy Okema, the North Kyoga regional police spokesperson, confirmed the incident, adding that no exhibit was recovered from the scene as the suspect is still at large.

This is not an isolated case. Cases of murders related to domestic violence in Lango continue to take the airwaves.

On April 17, 2024, for instance, an angry mob in Aromo Sub-county in Lira District descended on a 37-year-old woman, accusing her of being involved in the murder of her husband.

The 54-year-old Robert Odongo’s body was found bundled in a sack and hidden under the bed at his residence in Akaidebe Village.

His wife, even after being rescued by police, was killed after the angry mob stormed the police station where she was being held, forcibly removing her from the police cell. Two sacks of stones were recovered from the scene where she was stoned to death.