Zambian Woman Killed by Husband in Finland after she Filed for Divorce

A Zambian woman has been shot dead in Finland by her husband over allegations of divorce and also custody of a child.

The victim was shot dead in Lahti on Sunday evening around 5.30 pm.

The suspect of the crime is a 53-year old man and the victim is his 38-year-old wife, local media reports.

According to the information of the Ilta-Sanomat Newspaper, the male suspect is of Finnish origin and lives in Kouvola while the female victim is of African origin (Zambian) and had filed for divorce from the suspect.

The shooting took place outside and, according to Police, had some witnesses. The Police has started to interrogate the witnesses and the 53-year-old male suspect.

The suspect was close to the crime scene just a few minutes after the Police got the emergency call. The Police has the gun suspected to be the weapon used.

The trigger behind the tragedy seems to be a divorce and the fight of the custody of the child and the right to see the child.

The suspect of the murder and the victim got married in Northern Finland in January 2016. Later they have moved to South. The woman has been living in Lahti lately and the husband in Kouvola, Ilta-Sanomat Newspaper reports.

In the beginning of the year the woman had filed for divorce alone. The file is still handled in the District Court.

Less than two weeks ago the woman filed another case to the District Court to ask the Court order for the full custody of their child. She had asked the Court to order the son to live with her.

The son lived first with his mother after the parents got separated. According to the mother’s file, the father ”took the child without the right to his new home” in Kouvola.

In the file, the mother states that the child used to live with her until the father took the child. She had added in the file that it would be the child’s best interest to live with her.

The couple did not find an agreement when negotiating with the child supervisor.

It is reported that the woman with African origin did not know the Finnish law and how to proceed with the custody issues.

It says in her file for the full custody that ”She had made the agreement to be able to at least see the child occasionally”.

The case has been filed to the District Court 1.5 weeks ago. It is likely that the suspect has gotten the subpoena (summons) last week just before killing the woman.

Meanwhile, the suspect is yet to be charged.