Man Laments as In-laws Demand He Marries Wife’s Corpse Before Burial
Adejo Emmanuel lost his wife, Margaret, hours after the birth of their twin girls in December, and now, her family insists he must marry her corpse before her burial.
According to The Nation, the deceased’s family members had sent him a message that he has to obey their custom and tradition by performing certain rituals and rites, including performing the mandatory marriage rites he failed to perform while the late Margaret was alive. They added that he is barred from coming to his wife’s village in Akenze, Ebonyi State or burying her corpse without meeting their demands.
Sobbing as he lamented his predicament, Emmanuel, a peasant farmer in his mid 50s, said,
“My life is like a balloon that was punctured with a pin, which immediately deflated it of all the joy. When a woman is pregnant the prayer is to hear the babies’ cries and that of the mother’s joy; but now the mother is gone, leaving the babies.
I don’t know what went wrong and I don’t know my sin. Like any other fellow Christian, when everybody was preparing for Christmas, I was preparing as well, both for a merry Christmas, safe delivery for my wife and a successful naming ceremony for the babies; not knowing that I had another thing coming.”
Narrating his wife’s last moment, Emmanuel said he suddenly saw his wife at Ugbagbo farm in Owo, where he was working unannounced.
“When I saw her, I scolded her and asked why she came all the way to the farm, because she was already heavy and ready to deliver. I also asked why she did not go to the hospital instead of coming to the farm to meet me. Of course, this was not her first pregnancy, as she had previously had four children before this pregnancy.
To compound matters, there was no vehicle to take her back to town that evening. We therefore waited till the second day. However she went into labour in between and was delivered of the twin girls. She was attended to by Traditional Birth Attendants, but the placenta did not come out. We quickly got her into a vehicle and headed for the General Hospital at Oke-Ogun in Owo.
Unfortunately she did not make it, as she gave up the ghost at the entrance of the hospital. I noticed that her condition had worsened and she was getting dizzy. She thus got to the hospital, dead. To say the least, I was devastated. I became confused and almost ran mad. The nurses, who knew her, were surprised that she went to the farm instead of the hospital. She was well known at the hospital, because that was where she had all her children. She had also attended antenatal there.
The family of my late wife have asked me to come and do marriage ceremonies h my wife and come up with the sum of 350,000 naira before anything could even take off. Where would I get the money from? I am confused. They should pity my condition and understand that I’m still taking care of her four children. Three of them are in secondary school, not to talk of the twins.
I have no money to pay for the mortuary; I also have no money to feed the children; and my in-laws are demanding for the death certificate of their daughter, which they say I must bring along whenever I am coming. They also say it is compulsory for me to come over and do a compulsory marriage with her before she could be buried. They say some rituals must be performed and 350,000 naira must be paid to her family as part of her bride-price, before talking about the burial at all. Where do I get the money from? Am I not in trouble now?”
According to Emmanuel, his in-laws don’t even want to entertain or listen to any excuse or explanation; all they care about is for him to fulfil all the necessary requirements.
Asked how he met his wife, Emmanuel replied that, “You can meet your wife anywhere, so far there is love and the woman agrees to marry you. I am from Idah in Igala, Kogi State, and we met here in Owo, Ondo State. I never knew this is what I would face.”
You have been living with this woman forever and didn’t deem it fit to go and see her people, you have kids in secondary school meaning that you guys didn’t meet yourselves today. I hope all the people cohabiting and having kids without proper marriage will read this.
Is a pity but tradition demands dt u will marry her now she is dead since u didn’t do it wen she was alive
Oga but u get heart living with a woman without seeing his pple
Awwww
I feel for you, people should learn to do the right thing first
That’s why it’s good to pay a woman’s bridge price and do d nesseccary things before anything else now look at what he has gotten himself into
Custom is custom, you have to perform the marriage rites of a woman before calling her your wife, she didn’t fall from sky, though it is weird when you have to marry a corpse, but then it is still their custom. #enoughsaid
Hmmmmmmmmm
Baby Papa make una come learn lesson o!
I don’t pity him.A woman produced 4 children in addition to the new babies and he didn’t think it necessary to marry her properly.350k is too small.If he had done it earlier it would have been negotiated happily now any negotiation will be done in grief and anger
Mr oga pls go and do wat u were asked to do. For yrs u paid deaf ears to ur wife’s plea to go pay her bride price nw she’s dead….. Wat a pity. Nw her family want u to do d right thing u refused to do years ago and u come crying for Pity! Pity ko! Pity not!
I pity u because now no one can plead on ur behalf had it been u did thy right thing when she was alive all this and thy money wouldn’t reach like that, oga carry ur cross
lol.just marry d corpse
This is a big lesson to all cohabiting, God ve mercy
You know your financial status and you still go ahead to give birth to 4 kids and even did more..this man, you r wicked ooo…u think its just to sleep with a woman and produce children that makes you a man.you did not even pity the woman.she turned a baby making machine nau. Don’t you know that once a woman starts giving birth, her body dies gradually that’s you see even rich people having 2 at most 3 so that the man can take good care of the woman and kids.you are heartless and deserve even worse than what’s happening.imagine if the woman has a lawyer for a BRODA.. Meehnnn ur Don.since u sabi produce kids as you no get control…go produce all the necessary rights. This serve as a warning to guys out there that turn their wives to baby making machines without the necessary rites..that woman dies bcos proper medical attention was not given to her and at the right time.childbirth is not chewing gum o…May God Help You.
this is why its bad to cohabit. God will see him through.
Sorry oga u don enter. Now you’ll learn to do the right thing at the right time. May her soul rip.
No money but plenty power to produce 6 children. Now he’s making her family look so wicked while he’s the tragic victim. Hmmm. This isn’t a lesson for the men alone but also for women who choose to become slaves and baby making machines to men who don’t value them enough to marry them. I just pity the children
Speechless
I completely concur with Sandra
Lesson to men to always go and perform necessary rites of the woman they intend to marry. But they don’t have money yet they keep having kids . I am short of words to say the least
Hmm
It’s too much abeg
Lets not be heartless now. I think what should be addressed here is why do easterners especially make it difficult for men to get marrried, with thier daughters huge dowry payment, an endless list of things to pay or purchase. It is scary. This discourage many from doing d proper rites. All fingers ar not equal, but all must dip into d bowl of soup. Its a pity.