A 41-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly raping his wife as punishment for cheating on him.
The couple’s names are known to this publication but have been withheld for ethical reasons.
The husband appeared before Manzini Principal Magistrate Florence Msibi last Thursday and was slapped with two counts of contravening the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act. He is said to have committed the offences on March 18 at Ngculwini.
On count one, the husband allegedly had unlawful sexual intercourse with the survivor without her consent.
On count two, the accused was charged with contravening Section 77 (1) (a) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15/2018, in that he assaulted the survivor with an electric cable and belt several times on the body.
According to the complainant, she and the accused have been married under Eswatini Law and Custom since March 3, 2014, and they share five children.
Recounting the events of the night in question, she stated that at approximately 9pm, she was at home when her husband returned from work. According to the survivor, their children were asleep in their room except for the youngest one, aged five, who was still awake.
She told the court that upon entering the house, her husband took her cell phone and browsed through it. While doing so, he discovered a voice note she had sent to another man with whom she was romantically involved.
She said in the message, she had asked the other man about his whereabouts and whether they were still on good terms.
“He did not pick my calls, so I sent him a voice note asking if he was home and whether we were still in good terms,” she said.
The complainant testified that her husband confronted her after listening to the recording, questioning whether she was involved with the other man, but she denied the relationship.
She stated that her husband demanded that they call the man. When contacted, the man denied any romantic involvement with her, explaining that their interactions were limited to him occasionally buying food from her, since she runs a restaurant.
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According to her testimony, the situation then turned violent. She alleged that her husband took a belt and assaulted her before switching to an electric cable, striking her all over the body with the plug end.
She told the court that the assault continued until she began bleeding.
“I tried to shout for help, but he did not stop,” she said.
She added that her husband then instructed her to wash off the blood.
“He demanded that we should go to bed and told me that he would not use protection so as to impregnate me. He said the fact that I was having an affair meant that I wanted more children,” she said.
She further told the court that she informed her husband that they already had many children and that she was in pain following the assault, making her unable to engage in intimacy.
However, she said her husband proceeded with the act despite her pleas for him to stop.
The survivor, who emphasised that she did not consent to the sexual activity, stated that despite her infidelity, it was wrong for her husband to assault her and force himself on her.
She pointed out that her husband should have reported the matter to family structures instead of ill-treating her in the manner he did.
The survivor further told the court that it was not the first time her husband assaulted her.
The matter continues.
