Court discourgaes polygamy, as wives clash
By ESTHER NG’ANDU
COURT clerks were forced to break up a polygamous family’s free for all brawl outside a Buchi local court, after its reconciliation case was dismissed.
The drama unfolded after the court ruled that the two women’s husband, Darious Tembo needed to assert himself and exercise his role as head of his household by presiding over both of his wives grievances.
Junior wife, Estella Ngoma sued first wife Rabecca Tembo for reconciliation following their rift caused by accusations of witchcraft.
Hostilities were renewed after the family exited the court with the principal wife’s brother joining the fray and telling Ngoma not to stress his sister because she was the first wife.
Ngoma fired back with verbal acerbic attacks telling Tembo and her relatives that the fight was not over.
As the two women and their relatives continued to bicker, court clerks were forced to intervene and disperse the feuding family members to instead go home and reconcile from there as the court ordered.
Earlier in court, Ngoma had accused Tembo of using charms on her which spoiled her intimacy sessions with their husband.
Ngoma told the court that Tembo had constantly accused her of using charms on her to an extent of making her bleed whenever she had relations with their husband.
The court heard that in December last year Tembo allegedly sent a voice note to their husband, accusing Ngoma of using charms on her.
She told the court that Ngoma through her charms was the reason she kept bleeding from her private parts whenever she became intimate with their husband.
Ngoma told the court that it was the reason she sued Tembo but later dropped the case after her family suggested that the matter would be resolved within the family.
The court heard that Tembo had not been remorseful of her actions as she continued telling family members that at some point a traditional healer she consulted told her the sufferings in her marriage were as a result of Ngoma’s alleged charms.
“At some point she went as far as proposing for the witchdoctor to be transported to Kitwe so that he can tell the family members the person behind her sufferings ,” she said.
Tembo however, told the court that she used to complain to their husband about her bleeding problem.
The court heard that Tembo had not been happy in her marriage after her husband took a second wife and sometimes beat her for no reason.
She told the court that at one time she discovered charms inside the mattress and complained about it to her husband who did not do anything.
The court later called their husband, Darius, who testified that he was married to both women although he had not been on good terms with his first wife due to the witchcraft accusations by his second wife.
He told the court that at one point he asked Tembo to seek God’s intervention and not traditional healers especially that during the time she wanted a child,bGod blessed her with one.
Buchi senior local court magistrate Beatrice Kabelenga sitting with Magistrate Kambole Nyoni dismissed the case and advised Darius to help settle the differences between the two.
Magistrate Kabelenga said Darius being the head of the house should put rules that his wives should follow because one day they might end up killing themselves.
“This is why people avoid going into a polygamous marriages because it has such consequences of people using charms, we can’t reconcile you two looking at the accusations you are giving each other, let your husband put rules as the head of the house which you should follow,” she said.
Times of Zambia
