A South African based Zimbabwean man is demanding his lobola back after he caught his wife in bed with another man.
35-year-old Mkhiwa Ndlovu from Tsholotsho’s area of Mapengula was on 21 November this year busted by her husband, Simon Mpofu (38) having sexual intercourse with her lover.
On a fateful day, Mpofu reportedly came home unannounced from South Africa after he had been tipped off by one of the villagers that his wife had a boyfriend.
Mpofu is alleged to have waited for nightfall before he made his way home, where he caught his wife pants down with another man in their bedroom.
Reports say Mkhiwa and her boyfriend ran away naked after Mpofu busted them. The two lovers were spotted by villagers at Tsholotsho Business Centre running in different directions.
Meanwhile, Mpofu is alleged to have engaged people to talk with his father-in-law Gibson Ndlovu to see how he can compensate him for the damage caused by his daughter and pay him back the lobola he had paid.
He is also demanding his property back that he had given them for safe-keeping. Mpofu told a local tabloid:
I don’t want to fight. I bought donkeys and a cart that I was safe-keeping at my in-laws. I want my property back. I also want them to repay me the lobola I paid for their daughter to end this chapter.
My wife ran away and I don’t know where she is, so the father has to compensate me because she is his daughter.
Payment of bride price or lobola has been a contentious issue in Zimbabwe.
This year, traditional leaders in the Senate led by President of Chiefs Council Fortune Charumbira opposed clause 16 in the Marriages Amendment Bill hampering the passage of the Bill in the Upper House of Parliament.
The contentious clause provides that payment of lobola could not be regarded as a barrier in solemnising marriage between two consenting adults if they satisfy other requirements of the law.