A Nyanga couple is facing intense scrutiny after allegedly marrying off their daughter to two different men, and accepting the bride price from both, sparking outrage over the blatant disregard for customary marriage practices.
The shocking
revelations came to light at Chief Mutasa’s community court recently, where
Cleopas Maunga lodged a complaint against Donny Ndiraya and his in-laws.
Maunga claimed
that his legally wedded wife, Chipo Rambeti, was snatched by Ndiraya before he
had formally divorce her.
He also accused
his in-laws of accepting another bride price for Rambeti before the annulment
of the first marriage.
“While I was at
work, this man was staying at my homestead, and sleeping in my bedroom. When I
got wind of this, I reported the matter to her mother, who told me to send my
wife back home so that they could talk to her.
“I sent her,
but she never returned,” said Maunga, adding that his world was turned upside
down when he bumped into his estranged wife while boarding a bus to Mutare.
He was shocked
to see her with Ndiraya and a child, a clear indication that she had moved on
without formally ending their union.
“I called and
told her to come and collect her property since it was now clear that she had
moved on. She said she would come, but never set foot on my homestead again.
“She told me to
ask her mother to collect the property, and her mother refused too. I paid
bride price for my wife, but I never paid a divorce token because I still loved
her,” Maunga said, his heartbreak palpable.
However, Ever
Chimonyo, the accused mother-in-law, vehemently denied Maunga’s account,
labelling him a violent husband, who drove her daughter away.
“All I know is
that my daughter was being beaten up constantly. At one point, he broke her
leg. That is why she ran away. She was always telling me how abusive he was.
When she came home and told me what was happening, I did not interfere. She is
above 18 and a grown-up woman. I cannot make life decisions for her,” said
Chimonyo.
Chimonyo also
justified accepting a second bride price from Ndiraya, arguing that Maunga had
only paid part of the roora and showed no interest in formally ending the
marriage.
“He never came
looking for her when she came back home. For months we waited thinking that he
would come to look for her, but he did not. I assumed he did not love her
anymore.
“As for the
property, my daughter had tried to claim her share before, but he refused to
surrender it. So now he wants to return it on his own terms? That is not how it
works,” she said.
The woman at
the centre of the storm, Chipo Rambeti, supported her mother’s claims, adding
that she had made it clear to Maunga that their marriage was over.
“I told him
that I no longer loved him. I cut all ties with him when I left. He is acting
like I wronged him, but he married two other wives after my departure.
“Their children
are older than mine with Ndiraya. I was no longer married when I met Ndiraya. I
only got married to Ndiraya after I had left him for good,” she said.
In a surprising
twist, Maunga’s niece, Chipo Maunga, testified that she had witnessed Rambeti’s
affair with Ndiraya first hand, while Rambeti was still married to her uncle.
“She used me as
a decoy. I thought Ndiraya was my boyfriend, only to find out that he was
seeing my uncle’s wife behind our backs.
“One day I went
looking for him at his house and saw my aunt there, carrying a dish of dirty
clothes. She was acting like his wife. The next day, she was back at my uncle’s
house, acting like nothing had happened,” the niece testified.
Ndiraya, on his
part, denied any wrongdoing and maintained that his relationship with Rambeti
began only after she had left her previous marriage.
“I never
cheated with her while she was still married. I only met her after she had left
her husband. Yes, I was in love with Chipo Maunga before, but that ended. I met
Rambeti in Nyanga, and that is how we got together,” he told the court.
Chief Mutasa
delivered a stern ruling in the bigamy case involving Rambeti, calling out her
parents for allowing her to marry a second man without proper closure from her
first union.
“If this was
under Roman Dutch Law, Rambeti would be guilty of bigamy. Under customary law,
the same principles apply – you cannot marry a second man without a proper
divorce process, including the exchange of a divorce token.
“As parents,
you should never have accepted lobola from another man before that was done,”
said Chief Mutasa.
The chief also
placed blame on Rambeti’s first husband, for not following up on his wife after
she left.
“If he truly
loved his wife, he should have looked for her. Instead, he waited until she was
already married to someone else.
“That is not
how love or marriage works in our culture,” said Chief Mutasa.
Chief Mutasa
ordered Rambeti to collect her property from Maunga’s homestead and advised
both parties to resolve their differences amicably and respectfully. Manica
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