A 30-year-old man from Honde Valley has been reimbursed the bride price he paid by his girlfriend’s family after they deemed him unfit to marry their 21-year-old virgin daughter.
The family had been holding on to both the US$345 paid by Prince Stefano and their daughter, Chiedza Mudzedze since the marriage ceremony in March this year.
Stefano, who lives in Mandeya Village, told The Manica Post that he was contacted by Chiedza’s mother recently and was asked to come and collect his money.
The call came after their story was published in The Manica Post.
The Mudzedze family also accused Stefano of betraying them by reporting the matter to journalists. Said Stefano:
They asked me to come and collect my money on Sunday. They wanted me to bring my ID and another relative, but I only had my father with me.
They gave us back the US$345 that I had paid as Chiedza’s bride price after lecturing to us as if we were kids.
However, I did not care about the treatment as all I wanted was my money back.
Stefano claimed that the Mudzedze family had initially expressed satisfaction with the US$345 that he had but later changed the goalposts. He said:
I paid US$345 as bride price. That is what had been communicated to me. However, when we went for the bride price paying ceremony, they demanded US$800, which I did not have.
They stated that the higher charge was because their daughter was a virgin. I was heartbroken when they refused to let me take her as my wife after I had married her.
He said he tried to reason with the Mudzedze family, but they insisted that he was not a suitable husband for Chiedza.
Chiedza, who is from Nyatsuro Village, Honde Valley, said Stefano was previously married and had lied to her about it, adding that she felt betrayed.
Stefano’s in-laws were also not pleased by the fact that he showed up for the lobola ceremony dressed inappropriately in ripped jeans, a work-suit jacket, and Crocs which they considered a sign of disrespect and lack of seriousness.
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