A MUTARE couple’s marriage has collapsed after the husband got into an affair with his step-daughter’s best friend.
Abigail Nyamukapa said she only discovered her husband’s illicit affair with her daughter’s friend, Nemeni Moyo, when the latter fell preg_nant and moved in with them.
The matter recently came to light at the Mutare Civil Court as Moyo was applying for a protection order against Nyamukapa. Mutare magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato presided over the matter.
Moyo claimed that Nyamukapa had separated with her husband when she moved in with the man who was only identified as Baba Shamie.
However, Nyamukapa said her husband’s affair with Moyo was the greatest betrayal she has had to endure in her life.
She further stated that her daughter cried her heart out after realising that her best friend had snatched her mother’s husband.
“I have never been degraded in life like this. I took her as my child and welcomed her into my house. She would visit my daughter and act as if she was a true friend and yet she had something up her sleeves.
“She ruined my marriage and up to now, it is still a bitter pill for me to swallow. For her to drag me to this court and accuse me of disturbing her peace is adding more insult to injury. Even after she stole my husband, I have never been violent towards her. I have accepted my defeat even though I am hurting inside,” said Nyamukapa.
“There is nothing more heartrending than being betrayed by someone you trust. I never thought that my husband and Nemeni, whom I took as my own daughter, would betray me like that. My husband should have looked at her as his daughter, while Nemeni should have looked at him as her father, not a lover,” said Nyamukapa.
She said her neighbours warned her of the suspicious interactions between her husband and Moyo, but she dismissed them as she did not see anything sinister about the two being close.
Nyamukapa has no children with Baba Shamie. However, the man and Moyo, whom he is now staying with, have since been blessed with a child.
She said she did not mind the court granting Moyo the protection order she was seeking.
“My daughter was the one who assaulted her former best friend after realising that Nemeni had been impregnated by her stepfather. I never assaulted or insulted her,” Nyamukapa calmly told the court.
Nyamukapa said her love for Baba Shamie is gone.
“Let her take the man, I do not mind. All I want is my peace of mind,” said the heartbroken woman.
Moyo confirmed that her former friend is the one who once assaulted her.
She, however, claimed that Nyamukapa has threatened to ‘deal’ with her.
“This woman was married to my husband before I moved in. She did not have any children with him and she is jealousy that I have given him a child. She wants the man back in her life and sends her violent daughter to assault me.
“All I want is a peaceful marriage. She should just move on like what Baba Shamie has done,” said Moyo.
She, however, refused to comment on whether Baba Shamie was her ex-best friend’s stepfather.
A protection order which will be valid for one year was granted in Moyo’s favour.
“I have noticed that there is tension between the two of you because of the man you share or used to share. As a result, the order you are seeking has been granted,” ruled Mr Chipato.
— Manica Post
