‘Why I Always Beat My Wife’
A dealer in electronics at the Alaba International Market, Lagos, Nigeria, Patrick Darlington, has told an Ojo Grade ‘A’ Customary Court, Lagos that he took delight in beating his wife because she was not the submissive type.
Darlinton in a divorce suit he filed against his wife in suit No.OCCA/055/2010, accused her of being violent, disrespectful and failing in her duty as a responsible housewife and mother.
The plaintiff who resides at 5, Sadiku Street, Okokomaiko, Lagos told the court that he realised too late that his wife was not the submissive type, adding that her stubborness has always been at the heart of their problems.
He added that all efforts to tame his wife have so far failed, as things got worse in their marriage.
He confessed to beating his wife on several occasions but explained that his wife had perfected the art of bringing out the worse in him.
In her reaction to the allegations, Mrs. Blessing Darlington, narrated amidst tears the pains and trauma her husband has put her through since she married him without the consent of her parents and family members.
She told the court that her husband assisted her financially to further her education but turned against her when she least expected.
“I wrote JAMB last year and was admitted at the University of Calabar. I was going for my registration and all other things when I noticed that my husband had hidden all my school documents.
“An attempt to retrieve them landed me in the hospital for four days. I also lost one of my teeth because he threw me down the stairs of a storey building, stabbed me with a broken bottle and invited the police to arrest me for attempting to rob him.
“It was however a twist of fate as the police arrested and detained him for attempted murder. He was also forced to pay my medical bills after I was discharged from the hospital,†she told the court.
She said that after she was discharged from the hospital, the police compelled her husband to take good care of her until she recovered fully, adding that she was surprised and shocked to find a court summon sent to her.
She told the court that she still loves her husband, despite all the pains he had put her through.
After listening to both parties and counselling them, the court president, Alhaji T.A. Saeed, observed that the applicant was bent on having his way.
He adjourned the matter till a later date for judgement.
—Jamiu Yisa
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