Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A YOUNG couple from Mutasa has seen their marriage unravel after the wife allegedly asked her husband to accompany her to meet her former boyfriend — a request that left the man stunned and set off a chain of mistrust, accusations, and repeated separations.
Peter Nyamuda told Chief Mutasa’s community court last week that he was shocked when his wife openly admitted she had never properly ended her previous relationship.
He said the revelation shattered his trust and forced him to question the future of their union.
“She told me that when we got married, she had an ex-boyfriend named Kuda whom she had not officially broken up with. She said Kuda had moved to another area while she continued with her education, and that they had never formally ended things. At first, I did not take it seriously, but later events disturbed me,” testified Nyamuda.
According to him, matters escalated when his wife received a phone call in his presence and put it on loudspeaker.
“The person on the other end said Kuda wanted to speak to her. When he got on the phone, he told her to come and see him,” said Nyamuda.
What followed, he added, left him speechless.
“After the call, she asked me if I could escort her to meet him. I asked if she was serious. I refused. From that point, suspicion crept into the marriage,” he explained.
Nyamuda claimed that his wife’s movements became increasingly questionable. “Each time I left for work, she would also leave home and return around the same time I did. She said she had gone to see her mother, but I suspected she was meeting that man,” he alleged.
Even routine errands, he said, raised red flags.
“One day she said she was going to look for firewood. She left early in the morning and only came back at night. When I asked why it took so long, she again said she had met her mother. These incidents eroded trust and turned our once peaceful home into a battleground of doubt.”
However, the wife’s brother, Tinashe Mandishora, who brought the matter before the court, offered a different perspective.
He accused Nyamuda of repeatedly sending his sister back to her family over various allegations.
Among them, he claimed, was Nyamuda’s insistence that he had fallen ill after she allegedly slept with him while menstruating without informing him.
“He said she would not tell him that she was on her periods and would proceed to sleep with him. We asked him if he had gone to the clinic and he said yes. But this is not the first time he has sent her packing,” said Mandishora.
Mandishora told the court that the marriage had become a cycle of separation and reconciliation, often followed by another pregnancy.
“He once divorced her and we took her back. They reconciled and had another baby. Now she has a 10‑month‑old child, and he has dumped her again.
“They have three children aged nine, six and 10 months. This pattern is unfair to the children,” he said, suggesting that if there were genuine concerns about infidelity, they should be addressed through dialogue rather than repeated abandonment.
Chief Mutasa intervened with stern counsel for both sides.
“When you are married, your past must remain in the past. There is no wisdom in bringing former lovers into your home, whether through conversation or contact. It plants seeds of suspicion,” said the chief.
He warned that entertaining outside influences could easily destabilise a marriage.
“If there is a man who keeps calling a married woman and disturbing her peace, that must be handled firmly. If you do not want him, make it clear. If he continues, report the matter to elders. Do not allow someone from outside to control what happens in your home,” he said while addressing Nyamuda’s wife, Irene Mandishora.
The chief also addressed the alleged involvement of the wife’s mother, who Nyamuda claimed confirmed that she had been calling her daughter during some of the disputed outings.
“A parent must build their child’s marriage, not protect wrongdoing. If your daughter is wrong, correct her. If your son‑in‑law is wrong, correct him. Taking sides without seeking truth only destroys families,” he cautioned.
But he did not spare Nyamuda from criticism either, warning against treating marriage as something disposable.
“You cannot marry today, send her away tomorrow, then take her back and have another child and repeat the same cycle. Children need stability. Marriage is not a door you open and close whenever you feel hurt,” said the chief.
He urged both families to sit down and resolve the matter constructively, noting that Nyamuda had indicated he still had feelings for his wife.
“If there is still love, let there be honesty and change. If trust has been broken, rebuild it properly. But do not make decisions in anger that will punish innocent children,” he said.
