A man’s efforts to force his estranged wife to return to their matrimonial home have flopped.
After a two-year legal battle in the Kadhi’s court and the High Court, the marriage was declared broken beyond repair, effectively ending their 10-year relationship.
The man identified as FB had kicked his wife out after a disagreement but he later rushed to court seeking orders to force her to come back.
FB claimed his wife had deserted their home without reason and said he was willing to work on repairing the marriage.
But the woman told the court she did not want anything to do with him. She argued FB had forced her to leave their matrimonial home over claims of adultery and also accused her of refusing to take care of their two children for the three years they had been apart.
The woman named as BG told the court her husband ordered two community elders to take her to her father’s house because he was no longer interested in her.
BG said his behaviour and utterance of "go back to your father" under Islamic law meant he had divorced her.
She also claimed FB assaulted her with a machete.
But the man insisted he wanted his wife back. He also claimed she had fled with his Sh108,000, which she used to build a house where she was living with another man.
The Kadhi’s court ordered the woman to return to their matrimonial home.
Last May, the court also ordered the man to pay BG Sh5,000 after failing to prove his adultery claims, failing which he would get 80 strokes of the cane.
The woman appealed the High Court decision, arguing she did not leave the marriage on her own and hence could not be forced to return.
High Court judge George Ndulu heard that the man did not pay the fine and never bothered to reach out to her parents or the elders.
The judge granted the woman a divorce, noting there was no way she could live with a man she did not love.
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