Barely a week after Gorgui Sowe mutilated the legs of his wife, more people are making their voice heard, condemning in the strong terms the utter violence inflicted on the victim.
“We are really distressed by this latest unfortunate incident,” the National Coordinator of the Network Against Gender Based Violence (NAGBV), Fallu Sowe, told JollofNews in an exclusive interview while indicating that what happened constrast with the efforts they put up in orddr to make sure “people resolve their problems in a peaceful way.’
Last Friday, the Gambia’s law enforcement body issued a statement unveiling a gruesome crime allegedly committed by a resident of Jalanbang, Gorgui Sowe. The Police backed up their statement with the release of extremely graphic images, showing the mutilated body of his wife.
As the Police have already slapped Gorgui Sowe with attempted murder charges, Sowe acknowledged the fact that “we still have a lot of work to do” to contain break the spiral of domestic violence.
The Bakoteh-based Gender Information Management Systems (GMIS) issued a report highlighting “the tendencies of reported GBV cases in The Gambia from January to July 2023.”
According to the said report, “the GMIS centre received 310 survivors cases of GBV across the 8 operational OneStop Centers (Kanifing, Banjul, Orange Shelter, Bundung, Brikama, Basse, Bansang, and Bwiam).”
The report also indicated that most cases of GBV are concentred in Greater Banjul area, noting that rape, sexual assault, IPV and physical assault represent the most reported cases.
The National Coordinator of the Network Against Gender Based Violence told JollofNews that the Police and the network cannot be everywhere, insisting that communities should take their responsibility in reporting cases of domestic violence to ths right authorities.
Sirra Ndow, a leading figure of the country’s civil movement, described the Jalanbang incident as “very sad,” calling it an “unfortunate incident.” She then added that the matter “should be thoroughly investigated and for accountability and redress.”
As aprominent member of the African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enfored Disappearances (ANEKED), Sirra Ndow emphasized that the investigation should “also look into the cause of this to prevent such from happening again.”
