A HUSBAND gave himself up to the police, Wednesday, following the death of his wife at the National Referral Hospital, Monday.
The woman, from Kakabona, west Guadalcanal, died of serious head injuries after her husband allegedly bashed her up using a solar battery.
“The husband is now in our custody after he surrendered himself to police on Wednesday,” a spokesman for Guadalcanal police told the Solomon Star yesterday.
The officer said according to information they received, the husband was celebrating Father’s Day and later in the evening, went and asked his wife for money.
“He allegedly attacked his wife after the woman refuse to give him money,” the spokesman said.
The couple had two children.
An eye-witness told the Solomon Star the woman suffered serious head injuries and was left unconscious after the attack.
“She was rushed to hospital and although doctors did their best to attend to her serious head injuries, she died early the next day,” the eye-witness said.
“It was a tragic incident, and a shocking one, too, for relatives and those of us who knew the couple,” the eye-witness said.
Police say a case was opened and investigations are underway.
The alleged killing of the woman was condemned by a women’s group, Vois Blo Mere Solomons.
The organisation’s programme officer Lisa Horiwapu said violence against women or girls is a grave violation of human rights.
“It is a crime under our laws,” Mrs Horiwapu said.
She said law abiding citizen of Solomon Islands should condemn such senseless act and lack of respect for women.
“Any physical attack on women in this country must be condemned in the strongest term.”
Mrs Horiwapu said impacts of such attacks on women range from immediate to long-term multiple physical, sexual and mental consequences, including death.
“Violence not only has negative consequences for women but also their families, the community and the country at large,” she said.
Decades of mobilisation by civil society and women’s movements have put ending gender-based violence high on national and international agendas.
An unprecedented number of countries have laws against domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of violence.
Challenges remain however in implementing these laws, limiting women and girls’ access to safety and justice.
By SOLOMON LOFANA
