I suspect men give her charms to abort – hubby tells court

ALLAN Phiri, 36, of Mtendere township in Lusaka wants to divorce his wife Abigail Lungu, 30, because she has miscarried four times since they got married in 2010.
Phiri told the Matero Local Court magistrate Lewis Mumba that he suspects his wife has a boyfriend who gives her medicines to abort whenever she is pregnant and that she likes wearing charms around her waist, a thing that scares him.
Phiri told Local Court magistrates Lewis Mumba and Pauline Newa that problems in their marriage started after his wife, who is also an alcoholic, miscarried her third pregnancy. He says problems worsened when he found a job as a truck driver in Choma.
He has sued his wife for divorce.
Phiri said because of the nature of his job, his wife spent nights with his friends every time he travelled to the DR Congo or South Africa. She was also in the habit of touching his private parts when he is sleeping and demanding for sex.
“Whenever I give her money, she would give her boyfriends. I am tired of this. This woman is giving me a lot of problems. Last month, we slept together but later I discovered that she had infected me with gonorrhoea and now I am scared that she can infect me with HIV,” he said.
He said his wife had being accusing him of being inactive in bed saying that was the reason she had started sleeping out with other men.
“She tells me that I add no value to her life because there is nothing meaningful I do to satisfy her. I give her all the money, but I am shocked that she can’t stop going out men in my neighbourhood,” he said.
He said since he got married, his wife would only smile when he gives her money and that they would fight if he fails to show her his payslip.
But Abigail told the court that her husband is a jealous man who was fond of monitoring her whereabouts.
“My husband likes inserting charms he gets from witchdoctors in me so that other men don’t propose me. I think he has lost hope and faith in me,” he said.
The court granted divorce and ordered Phiri to compensate his wife with K10,000 with an initial instalment of K3,000 and monthly child maintenance of K450 starting January month-end.