A Lusaka man has asked the High Court to dissolve his 11-year-old marriage saying his wife’s behaviour of denying him conjugal rights has caused him grave mental distress and torture.

Pascal Nsakashalo, an unemployed accountant has lamented that his wife Mokwani Namakando Nkakashalo, a Stanbic Bank employee, has been denying him conjugal rights for years and accusing him of sleeping with other women.

And Nsakashalo, who is the Petitioner, stated that he discovered his wife, the Respondent, had an affair with Terrence Thandisizwe Figlaw, the Co-Respondent, in South Africa where she had gone for work.

In a petition for dissolution of marriage filed in the Lusaka High Court, Nsakashalo stated that the couple had been lawfully married since October 19, 2007 and had lived in Lusaka’s Chilenje South.

He stated that his wife’s behaviour changed after he lost employment and she developed a promiscuous behaviour and rude attitude .

“She started developing a promiscuous behaviour, rude attitude, coming late home, disrespectful and use of abusive language in the presence of the children. She at many times suggested for a divorce, denying the Petitioner conjugal rights and suggesting to the Petitioner to have sex with other women as she was not starving and she was not interested in any way to have sex with the Petitioner. The Respondent at one occasion when she was asked by the Petitioners family if she loved her husband gave the answer that ‘she doesn’t know’. And after the said family meeting the Respondent has been insisting for a divorce to date,” read the petition.

Nsakashalo disclosed that his wife had committed adultery and behaved in such a way that he found it intolerable to live with her.

He lamented that his wife had stressed him to the extent she had been starving him of his conjugal rights for years.

And Nsakashalo revealed that at some point he masturbated in front of his wife to show her how much the torture had affected him.

“On October 23, 2017, the Petitioner discovered that Respondent between 1st and 14th October, 2017 was sent for work in South Africa by her employer and got involved in a sexual relationship with the Co-Respondent at Reef Hotel in Johannesburg where she was lodging. The Respondent has since confessed that she only slept with the Co-Respondent once in November, 2016 when in fact she had sex with the Co-Respondent also on October 9, 2017. The Respondent’s uncalled for behaviour has negatively affected the Petitioner as he does not trust her and does not feel any love from the Respondent and does not desire to live with the Respondent anymore,” read the Petition.

“Over the last few years, the Petitioner and the Respondent have not properly interacted in any manner as husband and wife. This has caused the Petitioner grave mental distress and torture. At some time, the Petitioner even masturbated or did sex acts in front of the Respondent to show how much the torture has affected him.”

The couple have two children together, Nsakashalo on the other hand has a 14-year-old girl born out of wedlock who stays with her mother in the UK.

Nsakashalo prays that the court dissolves the said marriage, that there be an order for child maintenance, an order for property settlement, child custody and compensation from both Respondents.