My mother in-law said I’m too short for his son, woman tells court
Oja Oba/Mapo Court C Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has dissolved an eight-year-old union between a woman, Abimbola Olateru and her husband, Dayo Olateru.
Abimbola, in her divorce suit, claimed that her husband was tied to her mother’s apron string which affected her marriage negatively. She, therefore, prayed the court to separate them so that she could pick up her shattered life.
Dayo refused to appear in court after being served a court summons twice.
Giving his judgment after listening to the plaintiff, the court president, Chief Ademola Odunade stated that it was obvious that their marriage had broken down irretrievably and that the defendant’s defiance to the court summon showed he was no longer interested in their marriage or ready to save it.
Ruling, he dissolved their marriage.
Abimbola said in court that: “My lord, I never enjoyed a minute of my eight-year-old marriage to my husband because my mother in-law vowed she would make our home hot for me. She stood against our relationship from the moment she set her eyes on me.
“While courting my husband, my mother in-law was warm towards me and friendly any time we spoke on the phone but her disposition towards me changed the moment she set her eyes on me. She became cold and withdrawn and I felt ill throughout the few hours my husband and I spent at her place.
“My husband refused to disclose to me what the matter was but we still went on with our marriage plan. Few months after we got married, my mother in-law paid us a visit and turned our home upside down.
“She took over the kitchen and prepared whatever food she liked for my husband. I called my husband’s attention to it but he refused to call his mother to order.
“I tried my best to tolerate her but reacted when I couldn’t stick her domineering attitude any longer. She flared up and told me she had warned her son not to marry me because I’m too short. I felt like fainting when I heard this. She added that I wanted to deprive her son of the joy of fatherhood because from experience, short women always find it difficult conceiving and bringing forth children. She thereafter vowed to get her son a new wife.
“My husband, to my surprise, turned against me and started taking orders from his mother. He paid me little or no attention and started living as if I did not exist.
‘My father went to see my mother in-law in order that he might make her see reason but she snubbed him.
“I got pregnant few years after we got married and was happy that my mother in-law had finally been proved wrong. I reasoned that things would improve between my husband and I but this was not so because his mother kept poisoning his mind against me.
“My husband went out and returned home at will while we hardly communicate. Any time I complained, he would beat me to a pulp. He threw my belongings out of the house at the end of the day with the help of his mother three years ago and I left for my parents’ house.
“My family members did all they could to resolve our differences but my mother in-law insisted our marriage had come to an end.
“I left with our only child who he never asked after. I was solely responsible for his feeding and general welfare for the three years he threw us out.
“The child unfortunately took ill and died while on admission in the hospital.
“My husband and mother in-law on learning about the incident got me arrested and detained in the police custody for almost a week while our child laid cold in the morgue. I was released after an amount was paid for my bail and our baby was then interred.
“My lord, I have gone through a lot of trauma married to my husband. I, therefore, plead for divorce so as to put my shattered life together again.”