Father-in-law ordered ordered to refund bride price with interest after daughter cheated with husband’s nephew

A traditional court in Zimbabwe has ordered a father-in-law to refund the bride price (lobola) paid for his daughter after she admitted to having an affair with her husband’s relative during their marriage before leaving to live with him.

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According to The Manica Post, the ruling was delivered by Chief Mutasa after Aleck Magadu brought the matter before the traditional court following the breakdown of his marriage to 31-year-old Theresa Zimhuwu. Chief Mutasa ordered Zimhuwu’s parents to refund the undisclosed bride price they received from Magadu, with an annual interest rate of 10 percent. The amount is to be paid in full by August 2026.

The chief said the interest reflected the time Magadu had invested in the marriage, adding that he believed he had found a lifelong partner only for the marriage to end after Zimhuwu began a relationship with his nephew and later left him and their four children.

Magadu told the court he was now solely responsible for raising the couple’s four children and described the affair with his nephew, Hambai Muchakuya, who is also his neighbour, as a painful betrayal. He said he became suspicious after discovering romantic messages on his wife’s mobile phone.

Zimhuwu admitted that her relationship with Muchakuya began while she was still married but alleged that she left the marriage because she had been subjected to physical abuse by Magadu. She told the court that the affair started before she left her husband and said she eventually decided to begin a new life with Muchakuya after suffering a miscarriage.

Muchakuya also admitted to having an affair with his uncle’s wife while they were still married. He told the court he could not say whether the pregnancy that ended in miscarriage belonged to him or to Magadu. In addition to ordering the refund of the bride price, Chief Mutasa directed Muchakuya to give Magadu seven cattle and seven cocks as compensation by the end of September 2026.

The chief also advised Magadu to carry out DNA tests on all four children to establish their paternity and avoid future disputes. The traditional court’s ruling gives Zimhuwu’s parents until August 2026 to repay the bride price with interest, while Muchakuya has until the end of September to fulfil the livestock compensation order.