Buy a house, get a wife for free

AN advertisement for a house in Indonesia went viral online after the woman selling it offered to throw in an unusual extra feature for free — her hand in marriage.

The internet advert reads for the most part like a regular house listing, saying the single-storey property has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a parking space and a fish pond.

But it also proposes to buyers a “rare offer” — “When you buy this house, you can ask the owner to marry you”, alongside a picture of Wina Lia, a 40-year-old widow and beauty salon owner, leaning against a car in front of the house.

The advertisement said terms and conditions apply, and notes the offer “is for serious buyers and non-negotiable”. The house in Sleman, on the island of Java, was on the market for 999 million rupiahs (US$75 000).

News of the offer quickly spread among internet users in social media-crazy Indonesia.

Boldies99, a user on the popular online forum Kaskus, said Lia was “quite smart — even though the house will be sold, she will remain the owner”.

Lia told the media she was “shocked at the reaction”, as she had been overwhelmed by journalists coming to interview her, and even the police in the conservative Muslim-majority country had been asking questions.

The police “came to verify the news as they consider it an improper advertisement. But I explained to them that it was not my idea”, she said.

The mother of two explained that she had asked a friend, who was a property agent, to help her find a buyer — and in the process a husband — but she had expected him to pass on the news to a limited number of people, not put an advertisement online.

“I told a friend of mine who also works as property agent that if there is a buyer who is a single man or a widower who wants to buy a house, and at the same time looking for a wife, he can let me know as I am also a widow,” she said.

She added that there was only one potential buyer, who had visited, but refused to give further details.

However, she found a buyer and future husband two months after posting the advertisement online.

“His name is Redi Eko, a 40-year-old widower from Lampung. He wants to live in Yogyakarta. He contacted me a while ago and we connected,” revealed Wina.

It looks like a match made in online heaven.

Redi was also looking for a wife when his staff, who saw the advertisement, gave him Wina’s phone number. At the same time, his children, who are studying in Yogyakarta, have been asking him to move to the city.

When they began talking on the phone, the stars seem to have aligned.

“I told him about my financial problems, which led me to sell the house. He respects me and cares for me. He said that he wants to help solve my problem. So, in the future, we will both stay in the house,” Wina said then. — Wires

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Wife assaulted for asking for money

POURING beer on his wife and assaulting her with fists after she had asked for money to buy food has landed a 31-year-old man from Sauerstown suburb in Bulawayo in court.

Romeo Ndlovu appeared before a magistrates’ court in Bulawayo charged with physical abuse.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded out of custody to April 26 on $20 000 bail.

Denying the allegations, Ndlovu said he had never assaulted his wife since they got married.

Allegations against Ndlovu are that on April 10 and around 6pm, he was at the shops, when his wife Sibongile Sithole approached him and asked for money.

This did not go down well with Ndlovu, who got angry and poured beer on her head and went on to assault her. Sithole, who did not seek medical attention, went to the police and reported the matter, leading to the arrest of her husband. — B-Metro

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Husband stops wife’s secret marriage

A Zambian man caught his wife of 20 years trying to secretly get married to another man at the Lusaka Civic Centre.

Confusion ensued at the venue as the dramatic incident unfolded in full view of the public.

The incident happened during the marriage signing ceremony at Nakatindi Hall.

The woman, identified as Mary Lungu, is said to have left her matrimonial home in Foxdale area on the pretext that she was heading to Nakonde district for business.

Ms Lungu then told the council marriage registrar that she left her husband of two decades on allegations that he did not keep her well. — Wires