Grade A Customary Court, Mapo, Ibadan, Oyo State, has adjourned till April 26, a divorce suit brought before it by a woman, Rainat Adetipe, against her husband, Muyideen Adetipe.
Rainat had sought for divorce on the grounds of battery and threat to her life by her husband.
The plaintiff stated that the defendant had so much frustrated her that she was always thinking of stabbing him or pouring hot water on him.
According to her, she came to court to avoid committing murder.
Muyideen did not come to court.
The court president, Mrs S.M. Akintayo ordered that a fresh court hearing be served the defendant.
Rainat, a trained hairdresser, while giving her evidence, told the court that she met her husband as a student and that they both worshipped in the same mosque.
According to her, a relationship developed between them, and this grew and later ended in marriage.
The plaintiff explained that their union started experiencing crisis after she had their first child.
Rainat said, “My husband instructed me immediately our first child was one year old that I should stop working.
“He was carrying out his national youth corps service then. I was not positively disposed to this decision because of paucity of fund. His allowance as a youth corps member was small and what I did was to augment whatever he gave me with the proceeds from my business.
“I refused to stop my business and would go out to make hair for people after he had left home.
“He asked a neighbour to spy on my activities. This lady led him to one of my customers’ house where I braiding her hair.
“My husband humiliated me in the presence of my customer and then asked me to pull my ears and follow him home.
“Muyideen beat me to a pulp on getting home. I ran out of the house when I couldn’t bear the beatings any longer.
“I moved to my parents’ house but they insisted I returned to my husband despite my plea that he would kill me.
“My parents reconciled us, but he never stopped maltreating me.”
She further said, “Muyideen was always taking sides with his siblings any time we had a misunderstanding. He treated me with disdain in their presence and went as far as beating me for complaining about their bad manners.
“One of his brothers always visited us without prior notice and I always served him my portion of the food I prepared while I went to bed with an empty stomach.
“Despite making this sacrifice, my brother in-law would complain the food had no salt or that it was not delicious.
“I told my husband to caution his brother, but rather than do this, he beat me up.
“My lord, Muyideen once attempted to strangle me after beating me late in the night. I managed to escape from his grip and ran out of our apartment.
“He called me on phone to come for our children when I refused to return home. He threatened to use them for ritual if I failed to come.
“My lord, I started detesting my husband after he attempted to strangle me. The thought of stabbing him or pouring hot water on him always run through my mind.
“Peace returned unto me after I started living separately from my husband. I rented a shop and was faring well, but he came there one day to fight me. He hit me in the eye and it was swollen while I also had bruises and wounds all over my body.
“He was almost lynched by those around who witnessed his display of brutality towards me.
“I was advised to go to court. I did, and he promised to change.
“He later moved in with me in my new apartment and his siblings started paying us visits again.
“They again took to their old ways. They started complaining that my food was tasteless.
“Muyideen humiliated me in their presence when I reported them to him and went further to hit me.
“I dragged him to court again and he pleaded with the court to beg him.
“I accepted his plea; he was well-behaved for about two weeks and later went back to his old ways.
“My husband, during one of the nights, stripped me naked in bed for two hours but refused to have sex with me.
“Muyideen, one afternoon again, stripped me naked, beat me and ordered that I leave his house naked.
“I grabbed my cloth where he put it, ran out and came to court.”
