Wife battering is not justifiable in all means. However, some women are battered due to their "own doings". Here are just some of the reasons why women are beaten by their husbands.
Think of this urban housewife. Her duties include looking after the children and a few other household chores as her husband spends his time out looking for the daily bread. But since she's tired of lying on the couch watching Niger movies, she visits the nearby salon. You could think she is going to do her hair and you would be wrong. She is going to catch some chit-chat.
Now, the forbidden fruit is always a sweet fruit. So is gossip. The woman forgets she had any duties until the kids are back from school. Then she remembers kids are hungry, the house is dirty, the utensils are calling her and generally her house is one office of the devil himself. Before she can rush for chips mwitu to feed her hungry children, the husband is back. Before she can even explain why things are messy, she's crawling on the floor with pain out of a hot slap from an angry husband.
"Mushene itawamaliza (Gossip will finish you all). This is so irresponsible!" the man barks at her.
There are these jealous men who do not want their women to even hand shake other men. Make a mistake and put on your beautiful skirt slightly above the knee dress while going for a ladies' night. You'll explain who you are going to meet. And when he chances to find you talking to a male old friend or colleague giggling on the road, you risk being accused of flirting with every man. The sentence? Only the four walls and the furniture in the house can explain the battering.
Thou shall not interrogate your husband. If he drinks all the salary and you sleep hungry, let him drink because it is his money. Better look for your money too. Some men tend to feel so superior and if you make a mistake of asking them where they spent last night or question about the lipstick on their shirt, the hospital bed may just be your next home.
The chamas are also a reason why some women are battered. Some men suffer inferiority complex. Any move by the wife to build herself financially is seen as a threat. And since they fear being overpowered, they object anything that can enrich that woman. Mama, you cannot join a chama.
Some women are however smarter. They go to chamas secretly and even open secret bank accounts. But again, wait until he gets a hint that the wife has a bank account! That might just be the end of the marriage. If not, the battering ghosts will quickly be arousesd in him and the end will be a hospital bed. You will even be lucky if he pays your hospital bill. That man who has domesticated and tethered you at home will shamelessly send you back to your relatives to clear the bill.
If asked, he will say it was the mistake of the woman.
So as it stands, men are justified to batter or even kill their women because of these 'crimes'.
AFTERTHOUGHT: If we embraced dialogue right from the family as a basic unit of the society, if men and women realised that the year 1800 is way far behind us, if men and women looked at marriage as a union of love and not a slavery contract, if we became clear in all these, then battering would be a thing of the past.