By NOMSA NKANA
AFTER a tip from his niece, a Lusaka man was left mouth agape when he allegedly found his wife sitting cozily on a man’s lap at a bar.
This was after he had earlier received a report that while he was away on duty, his wife spent a night at a guest house and was clobbered by some unknown people on her way back home in the early hours.
Brain Siteli, 32, of Mtendere was speaking at the Boma Court before Justices Morgan Kayanika and Dennis Mpundu in a case where he dragged Fridah Sakala 28 also of Mtendere to court for divorce.
Siteli, who said the two have been married since 2007, also said problems in their marriage began in 2008 but efforts to resolve them with parents from both sides failed.
He said as his job entails travelling, he went to work in Chipata for one week in July this year only to be greeted with disturbing news by his niece after he returned home.
“She asked if I had travelled to Chipata with my wife and when I said I didn’t, she said Sakala went to a guest house where she spent the night. But on her way home in the early hours, she was attacked by some people,” he lamented.
Furthermore, Siteli said the following day, he was told Sakala packed a few of her belongings together with her two children and went to an unknown place.
Fuming with rage, Siteli said he moved out of their bedroom to the living room where he spent the night.
The next day; he went to the office but knocked off early and was surprised to find that Sakala was not home, he said.
Siteli said the house was in a mess as Sakala left some of her clothes in the living room and others soaked in water.
When he asked his niece where his wife was, he heard she had gone to a party.
“The following day my niece came and told me I needed to go and see how my wife behaves when I’m away. I was taken to a bar where I found her sitting on a man’s lap browsing through her phone,” he said.
With that, I decided to sue for divorce.
In her statement, Sakala said the two got married in 2005 and lived well until 2009 when problems started.
She said problems escalated when she delivered her second child because Siteli had a lover he wanted to marry.
Sakala said one day, Siteli raised the volume on the radio to drown out her cries as he beat her until blood splattered all over the house.
She said Siteli’s sisters contributed to their problems as they were fond of taking false reports about her to him.
Sakala also said when she attended the party; it was with Siteli’s permission contrary to the statement he gave.
She also said when Siteli was travelling to Chipata, she told him she would go and spend some nights at her mother’s home because she needed to attend her brother‘s traditional marriage.
Sakala said on the day Siteli claimed he had found her with a man in a bar; she was on her way to the hairdresser when a friend who runs a shop called out to her and offered her some Hunters Dry.
“When my sister in-law saw me in the shop; she went and called my husband and they began beating me. They dragged me home and started calling me a prostitute,” she said.
Sakala however said despite her marital woes, she does not want a divorce.
The case was adjourned to August 21, 2014 for judgment.