By Tokpa Tarnue in Lofa, Liberia
For some time now, domestic violence such as sexual and gender-based violence has been rising in Liberia, with weekly reports of a good number of such incidents turning fatal.
Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months of last year (2017) went up by 35 %, according to the Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS).
Prevalence Data on Different Forms of Violence against Women:
Lifetime Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence :39 %
Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months : 35 %
Lifetime Non-Partner Sexual Violence : 3 %
Since the start of 2018, the number seems to be increasing with more fatalities.
The latest of such incidents happened in Zorzor, Lofa County, northwestern Liberia, where a 35-year-old woman identified as Lorpu Kpadeh, a resident of Gbizzigbagu town has being discovered dead after she was reportedly beaten by her husband.
The incident occurred early this week, while they both were on their farm.
According to police preliminary investigation, the suspect identify as Krubozomob Gbegbe also Lorma by tribe allegedly used a stick to beat on his four months old breastfeeding wife resulting to her death.
The lady according to family members left her four months old baby with his elderly brother in the town and had gone to their farm that early morning on a for personal work before attempting to join her friends for their usual group work on another farm.
Police investigation disclose that Krubozomob Gbegbe and his wife sometimes back had some misunderstanding after he constructed what she described as a makeshift structure for sleeping on their farm which her refused to do.
The investigations further establish that the deceased ordered her older son to demolish the structure built by her husband which may have aggravated him.
According to police, the deceased was discovered with several bruises and cloths tied around her Nike by community members on the out stitch of their farm following a turrieghif search for her to breastfeed her four months old child.
The suspect while attempting to escape was arrested by some members of the community watch team and was later turn over to the police in Zorzor where he under going further investigation while the deceased was been turned to the family for burial .
For the past 12 years Zorzor district has negatively boast of seven mysterious death, four of them been women.
It all started with 17-year-old Vewu Kesselee, who was allegedly killed in 2007.
In 2010, Korpo Kamara left her Zorzor Lutheran Mission school campus to Konia town for weekend and was killed in Konia town.
Her death lead to serious protest from the student community in Zorzor district which eventually hit the county provision capital Voinjama and lead to massive destruction with no perpetrator being found liable for her death.
Just a year on in 2011 a day after Liberia 171 birth anniversary in Lofa, Krubo Tarnue was killed and parts justice did not survive in the case but it was later reported that the convict escape prison.
In June of this year, a 9th grade student of the Sumokota Public School around Zalemia town Krubo Gibson is said to have been beheaded by one Smithwou Ballah who is currently behind bars awaiting trial.
The latest with Lorpu Kpadeh Krubo Gibson has sent a shocking wave across the district and Lofa as a whole.