Chibale Zulu told his wife Doreen Phiri, 28, that her mother should bear a child for him because she had failed to do so and was “like a chamber pot”.
This is in a case in which Phiri sued her husband Zulu for reconciliation because she loved her husband and wanted the court to save her marriage.
Zulu admitted and pleaded guilty to the charge before senior local court magistrates Ng’andwe Mukuka, Sarah Nyendwa and Moses Phiri.
Facts before the court were that in 2007, Zulu married Phiri and they have no children.
Phiri told the court that they used to live well when they got married but after three years confusion started because she was unable to have children.
She told the court that Zulu later asked his mother-in-law to bear a child for him because she had failed to do so as a wife.
Phiri said her husband had no respect for her, called her a time waster, and went on to impregnate a married woman.
She said Zulu did not allow her to enjoy her conjugal rights on several occasions, never left money for her to buy food, and that his pubic hair was shaved by his girlfriend.
Phiri said that her husband had chased her from the matrimonial home and was given only KR30 to enable her to go and live with her parents in the village.
She said her husband told her that she had no share in their two houses and a shop they built together because she did not have a child.
She further said that her husband’s girlfriends insulted her on the phone and told her that she was like “dry tree that does not bear fruit”.
“Even though I want to reconcile with my husband, he tormented me so much that I looked like a fool. He even reached an extent of saying that he wanted to bear a child from his mother-in-law because of my barrenness. That is an abomination in our culture,” Phiri said.
But Zulu said he told his wife that she was like a chamber pot and had also asked his mother-in-law to bear a child for him because Phiri had no respect.
He told the court that he decided to send his wife to the village so that she could learn how to keep her marriage.
“I am asking my wife to forgive me for all what I did to her. I love her so much and I am asking the court to help us reconcile and start living in harmony,” Zulu said.
Passing judgment, senior local court magistrates Mukuka, Nyendwa and Phiri reconciled the couple and said God was the only provider and, therefore, they should seek His favour all the time.
The court further ordered the couple to love each other and start a new life again.
