By Gloria Gicheru
His wife stabs him to death after a domestic brawl. An administration policeman shoots his girlfriend and shoots himself. A university student throws acid on the face of her classmate after fighting over their male counterpart. These are among many blaring headlines we wake up to, especially in the recent past. We are left speechless by these ghastly inhumane acts, seemingly people who “loved or love each other.”
The biggest question in our still perturbed minds is, WHY? It is human nature to give all sorts of theories about what would have led to such acts. Many women in Langata women’s prison tearfully explain that it wasn’t deliberate to attack the husband’s girlfriend; instead, they acted on anger.
Sitting isolated at a corner is a lady aged 28 to 35 years. Her clothes don’t say much about her except she is a convict. The black and white striped outfit is nothing fancy. Prison life has taken a toll on her, but she bravely smiles as I approach. I can tell the interview will be a daunting task as she tells me her sad story.
Let’s call her “Johan” (not her real name). The minute she started suspecting the affair, a spy was born to spy, always on the nerve when her husband came home late or was on the phone after he got home. One night when Mr. Hubby was taking a shower, she checked her husband’s phone.
The husband had talked several times with a certain lady called Moima, and there were some text messages among them he had sent money through M-Pesa. It confirmed that the dirty hands of the stranger were not only in her husband’s pants but also in the family’s financial jar.
The pain dispaired her judgment at the thought that her beloved husband was betraying her. I bet the feeling would be the same or even worse for you too. What would you do if faced with the same predicament?
I guessed right, most probably, forward the whole inbox of your husband’s messages into your phone as there would be no time to sift through lest you be found snooping on your husband’s phone.
Well, “Johan” decided to wait a while before arranging a meeting with the competitor; fate decides to rush things up. One Saturday night, her husband came home later than usual. As usual, she waited for him to get into the bathroom and eventually to sleep and quickly checked on the call log. Before she could even breathe, she found out that he had called the same number, but it appeared under a different name this time.
I can picture how she paced back and forth in her bedroom, seething in anger. The sight of her peacefully sleeping husband only made her wild imaginations go to extreme heights. Morning finally came after a night of turmoil. She decided enough was enough and made up her mind to confront “Jezebel,” as she preferred to call her husband’s mistress. She had done enough research and knew that Moima was her husband’s colleague,
Johan secretly followed Moima as she left the office; a few blocks from the office, she caught up with her. All hell broke loose, and she grabbed her from behind. “I know you are having an affair with my husband” she hurled insults to the unsuspecting woman; of course, the more she denied, the more furious Johan got. Without thinking, Johan, in a spasm of anger, pushed Moima, who fell to the ground and hit her head. She realized what she had done and tried to call for help. Unfortunately, Moima was already dead by the time help came.
Too bad the heated argument got some passersby’s attention, and all they could remember was the push that led to someone’s death. The question begs, should we brand Johan a monster? It was an accident. She even said so during an interview. “It wasn’t deliberate, it was a moment of anger” unfortunately, she has to live with that on her conscience.
What would drive a person to cause bodily harm or even kill someone they claim to love? Some of the reasons could be anger, betrayal, and the greatest and most common being jealousy. Most offenders regret almost immediately because they hadn’t planned to stab, burn or even kill their loved ones. They were just provoked by their anger which made them realize the grave deed only when it was too late.
I am not the devil’s advocate, but all of us shouldn’t be too judgmental. After all, we have done things that we regret though not as bad as killing or maiming someone. Let’s all try not to rush things when we are too emotional, which could turn against us someday.
Regardless of the anger and the need to act immediately, take a moment to breathe and the correct choice.
