A woman in Ndola sent the local court into laughter when she complained that her husband has a tendency of tearing her underwear whenever he came back home drunk. She said each time he came back home drunk, he would tear her pants to ensure that she had none left for her to wear. Mary Mufuwe 28 of Chipulukusu township sued Joshua Choolwe 31 for marriage reconciliation following escalating disputes in their marriage. She told the court that they got married in 2012 and have two children together. K50 dowry was paid. Ms Mufuwe said problems in their marriage started when her husband started spending nights elsewhere and taking excessive alcohol soon after she had their first child. Whenever he returned home, he would insult and beat her. The case came before Mapalo Local Court presiding magistrate Judith Bwalya sitting with Ntembe Sakala and Chileshe Nsofu. “He does not support the family. He just comes back to demand food and water so that he can have his bath and when I try to reason with him, he gets all my pants which he does nor even buy for me and tears them,” she said. She said each time he got paid, he would not gives her any money but that he demands all her her salary. Ms Mufuwe added that when she resists giving him money, he would insult her publicly and beats her in full view of neighbours and passers-by. Ms Mufuwe said they tried sitting down with both families but he threatened her even in the presence of family members. “I work has a maid, he does not buy clothes for me but buys for himself. He gets my money each time I am paid,” she said. In his statement, Mr Choolwe said problems began when they had their first born child who was getting sick regularly. He said his wife used to go to a certain church with her family where a prophet told them that the child was bewitched by its grandmother on the father’s side. “She started blaming my poor mother for all the problems we were facing based on some fake prophecy. She then stopped preparing water for bathing each time I came back from work,” he said. He said his wife was not concerned of his well-being and each time he came home, she would just be watching movies on their television set. Mr Choolwe said he was employed to load and offload pockets of cement for a living and that whenever he came back home he expected to find warm water to bath so that he was able to rest well and go to work the following morning
In passing judgement, the court reconciled the couple and asked them to report after a month for feedback.
