I Took Another Wife Because My First Wife Refused to Shave My Pubic Hair — Man Tells Court

A man in Kitwe, Zambia, has told a local court that he married another woman because his wife refused to shave his pubic hair. The revelation was made during a divorce hearing at the Ganerton Local Court, where 40-year-old Joseph Kasito defended his decision to abandon his wife, Agnes Kandela, with whom he has been separated for the past five years.

According to a report by the Zambia Observer, Kasito claimed that his wife’s refusal to perform the act, which she once did willingly, marked the beginning of their marital problems. “How can my own wife refuse to shave my private parts? This worried me and it made me look for another woman who would do it willingly,” he told the court.

The couple, who married in 2003 and have four children together, has reportedly been living apart since 2019. Kasito also accused Agnes of mistreating two of his children from a previous relationship, alleging she starved them despite his financial support to the entire household. He said repeated efforts to get her to change through counselling were unsuccessful, prompting him to request a formal end to the marriage.

Agnes, in her testimony, said that her husband and his family had long looked down on her because of her lack of education. She claimed Joseph once relocated to Mufulira, leaving her and their children behind in his mother’s house, despite knowing she was not welcome there. Agnes told the court her in-laws would often say she was not in her husband’s social class.

After hearing both sides, Senior Presiding Magistrate Mutono Banda concluded that the marriage had broken down irretrievably. The court granted the divorce and ordered Kasito to compensate Agnes with K15,000, payable in K200 monthly installments. He was also directed to pay K300 per month for child maintenance.