SEX in old age is typically a punch line, so it seems for a 78-year-old man from Emakhandeni suburb in Bulawayo who sued his 65-year-old wife after she slapped him with a 10-year sex drought.
Aaron Ndlovu told the court that he did not believe there was still marriage between him and his wife Elizabeth Ncube who she accused of neglecting him in every area of marital life, including sex.
Ndlovu, who was seeking a restraining order against his wife said she was no longer cooking or washing for him.
“I am married to Elizabeth Ncube and she is emotionally abusing me and always threatening to kill me. She has stopped giving me my conjugal rights and we are now sleeping in separate bedrooms. She is also no longer cooking and washing for me. I am no longer eating at home and I had a lunch box with me which I always move around with asking for food.
“My request to the court is that I want my wife to tell me if she is still interested in me. Just imagine she has also ordered our children to stop supporting me as she is always accusing me of practising witchcraft. Whenever I confronted her she said she cannot be forced to do something she is not interested in,” said Ndlovu who insisted that he still loved his wife.
Asked to explain her side of the story Ncube defended herself saying her husband’s abusive behaviour was the reason she left their matrimonial bedroom.
“Our problems started in 2002 when the applicant told me that he no longer wants anything to do with me. He told me that I was going to stay for the sake of our children. He would go to wherever he wants and come back home after some days.
“It’s been about 10 years of sleeping in separate bedrooms. The reason why I left the bedroom is that at one time he threatened me with a pick handle.
“It is also true that I am no longer cooking and washing for him because he is the one who ordered me not to do that.
At one time I washed his blankets and he reported me to the police accusing me of invading his bedroom,” said Ncube.
In a bid to save the old couple’s marriage from collapsing, the presiding magistrate Sheunesu Matova referred them for counselling. – B-Metro