40 year old widow to marry her 23 year old son for whom she is six months pregnant

ZIMBABWEAN woman Betty Mbereko is set to marry her 23 year old son Farai for whom she is already six months pregnant in what is the country's first such case incest to the chagrin of local community elders.

 

Mrs Mbereko, 40, from Mwenezi in Masvingo Province in southeastern Zimbabwe, claims she and her son are in love with each other and now want to formalise their relationship. She has been a widow for the past 12 years and has been living with her 23-year-old son Farai Mbereko since then.

 

Shunning local protests, Mrs Mbereko, who confirmed that she is six month pregnant, said she has decided it is better to marry her son because she does not want to marry her late husband’s younger brothers, whom she says are coveting her. Last week, she stunned a village court when she said the affair with her son had begun three years ago.

 

She said after spending a lot of money sending Farai to school following the death of her husband, she felt she had a right to his money and no other woman was entitled to it. Farai added that he was more than prepared to marry his mother and would pay off the ilobola bride price balance his father had left unpaid to his grandparents.

 

Betty told the village court council: “Look, I strove alone to send my son to school and no one helped me. Now you see that my son is working and you accuse me of doing something wrong, so please let me enjoy the products of my sweat.”

Farai added: “I know my father died before he finished paying the bride price and I am prepared to pay it off. It is better to publicise what is happening because people should know that I am the one who made my mother pregnant, otherwise they will accuse her of promiscuity.”

 

Local village head Nathan Muputirwa said, however: “We cannot allow this to happen in our village, as it is a bad omen. In the past they would have to be killed but today we cannot do it because we are afraid of the police.”