adminThe police said the man has been arrested and will appear in court soon for marrying an under-aged girl.
A police officer said the man reportedly courted the girl, a Form Two pupil at a local school, when they met in December last year and had his proposal accepted.
The police officer said the lovebirds would secretly meet until the girl’s family received information to the effect that she was seeing her brother-in-law.
“The family members put the girl under surveillance, monitoring her movements until one day the girl’s brother caught them caressing each other in the bush. They held a meeting from which they agreed that the two should formally marry instead of having a secret affair,” said the police officer.
The family is said to have asked the local headman (name withheld) to preside over the customary marriage.
The headman (84) allegedly approached the girl’s mother (66) who consented to the idea saying the decision to let her marry would be better because she was not intelligent at school.
“The girl then moved in with the man as his second wife, but he would not be intimate with her because of her age,” said the police officer.
Another source said she unsuccessfully tried to abandon the marriage to go and stay with another sister in Chiredzi before she started to forego meals.
“She once attempted to leave her marriage to go and stay with her sister in the Lowveld but she then changed her mind. She allegedly went on hunger strike in an attempt to force her husband to sleep with her.
“The husband is said to have suggested that he would send the girl back to school and wait for her to be a grown up woman. However, the girl would have none of it and demanded that the man perform his conjugal duties failure to which she would not eat anything. She said she had not married the man for sadza,” said another source.
The man is said to have succumbed to pressure and started sleeping with his “wife” but all hell broke loose when he went to complete paying lobola.
“When the man approached his in-laws in connection with finalising the lobola issue, the mother shifted goal posts and threatened to sue the man, accusing him of raping her daughter,” said the source.
This resulted in a fierce misunder-standing among the girl’s family members until one of them allegedly reported the matter at Rutenga Police Station leading to the man’s arrest.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Peter Zhanero could not confirm nor deny the incident but promised to find out.
“It could have happened but that is not to my knowledge. I have to check with Mwenezi, Ngundu or Rutenga to find out. For now we have not received anything of that nature,” said Insp Zhanero.
Online Reporter