TEARING PANTIES, NO DOWRY, NO WIFE! MATERO COURT LEAVES JILTED LOVER EMPTY-HANDED
By Fredrick Banda
What began as an adultery compensation claim at the Matero Local Court quickly unraveled into a hilarious courtroom drama after an estranged woman revealed that one of the reasons she abandoned her lover was his bizarre habit of tearing her panties into shreds.
Before Magistrate Harriet Mulenga, 28-year-old Likezo Yanga of Chombela area candidly testified that she could no longer tolerate Lubasi’s strange behaviour, saying he had developed a habit of ripping apart her underwear, leaving her frustrated and eventually driving her into the arms of another man, Moses Kunda.
Feeling betrayed, Lubasi dragged his alleged love rival to court, demanding compensation for adultery, convinced another man had stolen his woman.
However, the case took an unexpected twist when Magistrate Mulenga asked the question that changed everything.
“Did you pay dowry?” she asked.
A visibly embarrassed Lubasi admitted that he had never paid even a single ngwee towards Likezo’s bride price.
That confession instantly punctured his case.
Magistrate Mulenga explained that the Local Court administers customary marriages, which are only recognized once dowry negotiations have commenced or bride price has been paid in accordance with customary law.
Delivering a stinging ruling, the magistrate dismissed the claim, declaring that there was no legally recognized customary marriage between the two.
“You cannot reap where you did not sow,” the court remarked.
The magistrate added that, in the eyes of customary law, Likezo was not Lubasi’s wife but merely his girlfriend, and therefore no adultery compensation could arise from their relationship.
With no marriage to protect and no dowry to prove one existed, Lubasi walked out of court empty-handed, while his bid for compensation was torn apart just as dramatically as the panties that allegedly helped bring the relationship to its unusual end.
TEARING PANTIES, NO DOWRY, NO WIFE! MATERO COURT LEAVES JILTED LOVER EMPTY-HANDED
