'Virgin' Gives Birth On Marriage Eve...LOL

10 October 2009,Harare — A man from Kemutamba Village under Chief Bepura in Guruve has forced his 14-year-old daughter into marriage as compensation for her elder sister who gave birth barely a week after marrying a local man.

The pregnancy was blamed on another man.

The minor's sister was supposed to have been officially given off in marriage according to traditional custom on August 14 after her husband paid US$355 as lobola.

However, she pulled a shocker when she went into labour and gave birth to a healthy baby a few days before the big day.

The embarrassed father of the girl quickly offered the 14-year-old Nyasha (not her real name) as compensation.

Now for two months, the girl who was unceremoniously withdrawn from her Form 2 class has had to contend with a new role as a housewife to an illegal gold panner in the remote Doma area, Mashonaland West.

A close relative said problems for the young girl started when her elder sister fell pregnant, but kept it a closely guarded secret.

"Her fiancé believed that he was marrying a virgin when he paid lobola at a ceremony well attended by relatives and friends on July 15 this year.

"A day after the marriage ceremony, her fiancé returned to Doma where he continued to pan for more gold preparing for his new wife to join him.

"As per Shona custom, we were waiting for her to be officially handed over to her in-laws and we were confident that she was a virgin, but little did we know that she had kept a big secret," said the relative.

"We were too busy preparing brooms, buckets and chickens for use during the handover ceremony and did not see the storm that was brewing. She was a heavily built girl and no one noticed that she was pregnant."

But then she all of a sudden complained of stomach pains and the family resolved to take her to Kemutamba Clinic.

On the way to the clinic, about 4km from their homestead, Nyasha's sister reportedly told her mother that she wanted to relieve herself and went behind some bushes.

"A few minutes later, she started screaming, attracting the attention of her mother who went to investigate. She discovered that her daughter -- who claimed to be a virgin -- was in labour," said the relative.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, all the family members who had taken part in the lobola ceremony panicked and convened an emergency meeting.

"The relatives were very angry and wanted to know the name of the man responsible for the pregnancy and why she had kept it a secret.

"She then informed her aunts that the gold panner who had paid lobola a few weeks back was not responsible for the pregnancy. Her aunts took her to the other man who accepted responsibility," said the relative.

In an interview with The Herald at his homestead, Nyasha's father said he did not have money to refund his son-in law.

"The family did not know what to do because we did not have money to refund our son-in-law. I only have one pig and eight piglets. I have seven cattle and three goats," he said.

"The gold panner was a good son-in-law who had paid his lobola well and we did not want to spoil our good relationship."

Contrary to his claims, a headcount of pigs at the homestead went up to 13, while goats numbered 15 along with several chickens.

He was quick to defend himself when asked why he failed to sell his livestock and refund his son-in law's lobola.

"A few weeks after the beans were spilled, my son-in-law visited us and we noticed that he was paying a lot of attention to Nyasha.

"We did not try to stop him from getting too close to her tichingoti pachiramu pavo, kungotamba.

"They fell in love and I suddenly saw them getting closer and closer each day, until she left us to stay with him in Doma," he claimed.

He said upon noticing that Nyasha had "decided" to fit in her elder sister's shoes, the family did not stop her and neither did they report the issue to the police.

"I went to the headmaster to inform him that Nyasha could no longer come to school because she is now married.

"The headmaster then rushed to report me to the police," he said.

He said Guruve police summoned him, his son-in-law and Nyasha for questioning and they complied.

However, Nyasha's father, who did not seem to have confidence in what he was saying, said they returned home the same day.

He said he did not know when he was supposed to return to the police station, as this had not been communicated to them.

Nyasha and her husband went back to Doma while he remained at his homestead.

According to another close relative who reported the incident to the police, the family asked Nyasha to drop out of school and move in with the gold panner.

"She was against the idea of marriage and would come to us crying that she did not want to get married, but her father forced her into it.

"A few days after she told us her ordeal, we did not see her walking to school alongside her friends. We heard that she had been forced to drop out of school and go to Doma to live with the illegal gold panner.

"That is when our representative went to report to the police in Guruve," said the relative.

The relative said villagers were living under constant fear of being victimised by Nyasha's father, who threatens people claiming to be a "war vet".

"He sent a threatening letter to the school headmaster, whom he strongly believes reported him to the police.

Added the relative: "In the letter, Nyasha's father also threatened everyone who owns a car and a cellphone, as he believed they had a hand in reporting him to police.

"Nurses at the clinic were also threatened by Nyasha's father after a girl child rights organisation that had come to rehabilitate her left," said the relative.

But Nyasha's father denied ever threatening the headmaster or any other villager.

He admitted writing a letter to the headmaster, but said it was simply to clarify some "gossip" circulating about him.

"Some people said I should be arrested because of our political differences.

"Others want to see me go down and laugh at me. They were happy when police summoned us to Guruve but became angry when they saw me returning home," he said.

Guruve Department of Social Welfare probation officer Mr Justice Goche said he had engaged the girl's parents so that they work on a rehabilitation plan.

"We are working on a removal process to find another relative who can take care of the child while the issue is being worked on.

"We will try to talk to some aunts who never took part in the marriage process and see if they can stay with her. We are doing this to place her as far as possible from the perpetrators.

"Our major challenge now is that she is staying in Mashonaland West while we are in Mashonaland Central. We just hope the family co-operates to bring her back," he said.

He said there was a surge in early child marriage in Kemutamba.

The marriages are not legally registered, but are customarily recognised.

From January to date four pregnant girls under the age of 16 sought help at Kemutamba Clinic. Their ages ranged from 13 to 15 years. The girls conceived when they were 12 and 14 years old respectively.

Last year, eight pregnant minors also sought help at the same clinic. Of the eight pregnant girls, seven were 15 years old while one was 14.

The girls fell pregnant when they were 14 and 13 years respectively.

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