DIANA NSOFWA writes
A LUSAKA businessman has been fined K6, 000 by the Chilenje Local Court after he was divorced by his wife who sued him for constantly accusing her of being a prostitute after he took alcohol.
Before Magistrate Ackim Phiri was Sibupilo Simaata, 34, of Chalala who sued her husband Gift Mufwaya, 44, of the same area for divorce.
Simaata told the court that the two got married in 2000 and have four children together.
She wanted to divorce Mufwaya because he would beat her and called her a prostitute every time he was drunk.
“Our problems started in 2008 when we moved to Lusaka from Kaoma and our neighbour received a visitor who I went to greet. This annoyed my husband who immediately left home and came back at night. He asked me who the man was and then started beating me,
“I worked as a stone crusher to help him add money to his business, but he still called me a prostitute. I want the marriage to end,” said Simaata.
She explained that one time she escorted her friend to Bauleni where they met a man from whom they usually bought goods.
“Mufwaya found me with this man on the road. He greeted the man and walked past me but later called me saying he had caught me committing adultery,
“When I went home he told me he didn’t want a prostitute of a wife and he wrote me a divorce letter and that was the fourth letter and I won’t manage. Last week he told me I infected him HIV but when went to the clinic and the tests came out negative,” she said
Mufwaya told the court that he only wrote the letter because he was upset.
“I do not want the marriage to end. Simaata knows why she wants to end it, if we divorce I can get the children said Mufwaya,” he said
The court observed that when there was no love there could be no marriage.
It granted the couple divorce as prayed for by Simaata and ordered Mufwaya to pay his former wife K6,000 and gave custody of the children to Simaata.
Mufwaya was also ordered to be paying K500 each month for the maintenance of the ch8ildren.
Magistrate Phiri further ruled that all goods acquired together should be shared equally.