A 45-year-old murder suspect from Ha-Mutsha Khwekhwe village, Mr Michael Sadiki, was released on bail earlier this week after he had appeared in the Vuwani Magistrate's Court.

Mr Sadiki was apprehended by the Levubu police a fortnight ago, shortly after the death of his wife, Mrs Olga Sadiki (41). He was charged with murder and initially appeared in court on June 17. The case was postponed and he was remanded in custody until this Monday, when he was released on bail.

The father of four children allegedly killed his wife after a domestic quarrel. The wife allegedly started quarrelling with her husband shortly after returning home from work during the day of the incident. According to the police report, the wife instructed her child not prepare a meal for the husband. This apparently infuriated the husband and he resorted to "disciplining" the wife, which ended up in her being killed.

The Munna ndi nnyi (who is the real man?) forum vehemently condemned the incident and urged husbands in the Vhembe region to seek help when there are problems in their families. The forum’s director, Mr Bardwell Mufunwaini, said that if men refused to acknowledge that there were problems in their families, wives would continue to be the victims of gender and domestic violence. He said problems should not be solved by killing.

“The issue of life is decided by God. We have invited husbands to come to our forum and sit together with other people and discuss their problems, so that they can be solved in other ways than resorting to violence,” he said. He added that those who sought help should call the social workers at his forum and they would advise those seeking help.