MUTINTA MULAYE writes
A 34 YEAR OLD woman has divorced her husband of 9 years at the Boma Local Court for staying in a loveless marriage.
Leah Phiri told Senior Local Court Magistrate Juliet Mwila that when she was expecting her first child, her husband, MacDickens Matenga, 38, of Garden Compound, she found out that there was another woman who was 6 months pregnant with her husband’s child and since then there had been no peace in their home.
“He always accuses me of not liking his relatives. And when his relatives come home, he does not treat me like his wife or woman of the house. He would leave money for food with visitors instead of leaving it with me,” Phiri said.
She also told the court that they never agreed on anything and Matenga would always accuse her of being in the wrong when the two had a disagreement.
“He doesn’t consider anything I say, we fail to resolve any problems together. One time he left me for almost 1 year 6 months and he would just come sometimes for a short time and go. When he leaves he would leave K5 for me to buy food and he disappears again,” Phiri said.
She said she lived a life full of torture because her husband would chat with the woman on phone even when they were in bed at night.
“If I say anything, I would get beaten and so I let things be. One day he was even severely beaten by his girlfriend’s husband and he came home with many injuries,
“As at now, we have been on separation for 2 years and 3 months and I just want to be free because he ruined my life and wasted my time,” said Phiri
In his defence, Matenga also told the court that the two had never been happy together because there was no love from the start.
“Even before our wedding, we didn’t talk to each other for 2 weeks. We were only reconciled 2 days before we got married. Our marriage had no love. It was just infatuation,” Matenga told the court.
He also said the two would fight over everything and that she only took care of her relatives when they visited the couple.
“Even if we had many problems, if there was love in our marriage, we would have reconciled. Even families, friends and our pastor are fed up of our issues and everyone is tired of trying to reconcile us. I also want a divorce,” said Matenga.
The court found that there was no love and no peace in the marriage from start.
Divorce was granted and Magistrate Mwila ordered Matenga to compensate Phiri with K10, 000.
