A woman in Hurara village, Tana River county on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, shocked her in-laws after she refunded a bride price paid to her family 24 years ago.
The mother of three who was married to a pastor left her abusive marriage after she paid back the sum of Ksh47,000 that was paid on her dowry negotiations. She claimed that her husband was an abusive cleric who often assaulted her over minor misunderstandings.
Continuing her spiel, she revealed that her once rosy marriage turned bitter two years after their union.
She pointed out that he would embarrass and abuse her before the congregation during his sermons in church, on top of that, their marriage issues would take centre stage of the entire preaching.
Whenever she confronted her in-laws regarding their son’s behaviour towards her, they would constantly remind her that they paid to have her and that she should persevere through the challenges that came with the union.
Efforts to get them to see through their son’s mistakes were futile as they asked her to continue praying for her husband to mend his ways.
“I told my mother-in-law about the abuse, and she kept telling me the man was entitled to do what he likes, adding that I should keep praying for him to change,” she told a local publication.
Consequently, she drafted a scheme n how to leave her union that had turned sour. She narrated that she began saving up for her bride price money last year.
However, her plans were disrupted after her abusive husband found the savings and took them with him.
Determined to leave with her children, she devised a new saving plan where she was finally able to raise the money and give it back to her in-laws.
“I called some of the elders who used to mediate in our struggles. They thought it was business as usual until I placed the money on the table and told them I was leaving and would not want my mother to be bothered because the debt was paid in full,” she narrated.
