A thirty-year-old Lusaka lady was trapped in a stalemate for more than four months without receiving physical contact with her spouse, even though she tried every possible tactic to rekindle their love.
However, no one could hold his baby-making machine responsible for the suspensions raised by the 34-year-old man who feared for his safety after finding a stockpile of HIV medication and condoms in their home.
During a reconciliation session at the Matero Local Court, Staff Zulu made the claims, claiming that his wife, Melody Banda, may have had one or more encounters similar to the 400 illegal movies from Equatorial Guinea following his discovery. But Banda refuted the charges.
“He stays on the phone for more than three hours. He stopped touching me in the bedroom. Even when I initiate the romance and attempt to touch his manhood, he would quickly bump my hand out of his belt and tell me that he had no desire for me,” said Banda.
But her husband who agreed to be reconciled said he stopped Performing his husband’s duties on her because he feared for his life after what he came to discover in their matrimonial home.
Zulu, of Six Milles told the court that he found several tablets of Anti Retroviral (ARV’s) drugs in their matrimonial home when no one in their union of 11 years was HIV positive.
This discovery came from an innocent visit to the kitchen where he went with the intention of trying to help himself with a cup of water in the absence of his wife.
But as he opened the drawers of their kitchen Unit to look for a cup, a shock awaited him. He stumbled on a plastic full of ARV’S that were kept in a strategic position with the intention of hiding them from him.
“I was very shocked and disappointed. I asked my wife about them but she told me that they belonged to her younger sister who kept them in her house. But who hides and keeps ARV’S in someone else’s house?” questioned Zulu.
He said despite giving her the benefit of the doubt, he later found 10 condoms in her handbag with several post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) dr_gs.
PEP drugs are used in emergency situations for people who have possibly been exposed to HIV. PEP must be started within 72 hours of possible exposure. And Banda was taking these dr_gs despite going sleeping with her husband before he mounted up a road block below his belt.
Presiding over the matter, Magistrate Lewis Mumba reconciled the couple who agreed to be brought back together and advised Banda’s mother who was also present in court to talk to her daughter.
“Your daughter is the problem in this marriage. If you listen to the issues she has brought out about her husband, they have all come because of her actions. She has not told us that he beats her or anything and despite all that she did, he has still accepted to reconcile with her,” He said.
“You need to sit her down with marriage counselors once again to panel beat her, or this marriage will not work.”
