The Other Woman Episode 24
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π«π The Other Woman Episode Twenty Four:
Joe got out of the house and drove straight to his lawyerβs chambers to make enquiries about what he could do, as regards his marriage to Farida.
He recalled that Mandy had insisted that they got a court marriage and he had done just whatever Mandy wanted because he was carried away by the fact that Farida was gong to give him a child after waiting for so long.
His lawyer spent time to explain certain things to him, and in the face of the fact that his marriage with Farida was actually a bigamy, seeing that he wedded Nkem in a registered Church, he needed to find a careful solution around it, to avoid shooting himself in the foot.
βYou see Engr. Joe, a lot of people assume that when you wed a woman in church, that the law isnβt strict about that marriage, when itβs actually same as getting a registry marriage, otherwise called court marriage.
βSection 21 of the Nigerian Marriage Act states that;
βMarriage may be celebrated in any licensed place of worship by any recognized minister of the church, denomination or body to which such place of worship belongs, and according to the rites or usages of marriage observed in such church, denomination or body:
Proviso as to times and witnesses
“Provided that the marriage be celebrated with open doors between the hours of eight oβclock in the forenoon and six oβclock in the afternoon, and in the presence of two or more witnesses besides the officiating ministerβ the lawyer told Joe
βDo you mind speaking English? Because you have only succeeded in confusing me more.
βWhat I need now is light out of my confusion, and not more confusionsβ Joe told the lawyer, squirming uncomfortably on his seat.
βOkay, letβs go this way. What the above means is that Church Marriages are marriages that are to be celebrated in a church properly licensed under the Marriage Act and by a priest or Pastor or whoever is authorized to perform such Act and in accordance with the rites of marriage recognized in that church, denomination or body.
βNow, you must note that Statutory Marriage (Court Marriage) can also be and is celebrated in churches and such marriage celebration has the same effect as the one celebrated in the registry by the registrar.
βThe condition being that the church in which such marriage is conducted is a licensed place of worship and the person conducting the marriage is an authorized minister of the church.
βSome churches are licensed by the government to celebrate marriages after following certain procedures and once those procedures are followed, marriages can be celebrated in the churchβ the lawyer said.
βBarrister, I hope you can recall that I havenβt come here to ask for guidelines on how to get married, Iβm asking about how to get divorced!β Joe shouted Γ ngrily
βI know right, but I am also aware that you wedded Nkem in Living Faith Church, a recognized and licensed church, so it is imperative that you understand where Iβm driving at.
βSo, like I was saying, upon complete celebration of the marriage,license theurch will issue the couple a marriage certificate which is the same as the one that is issued by the registry.
βThe marriage celebrated in the above mentioned way is also a valid Statutory Marriage and has the same legal implication as one celebrated in the Registry.
βSo youβre not really in a very enjoyable and enviable situation right now, because your marriage to Farida is a ‘crimΓ¨, if I can put it that way.
βItβs bigamy, and capable of giving one, five years behind the bars. Nkem your wife knows this, but she chose not to make a move on you when you contracted that marriage with Farida, and even after things began to turn sour between you two.
βBut the question you should ask now is, how does Bigamy affect the Bigamist’s spouse?
βIn the event that a second marriage is bigamous, that marriage is invalid. No one needs to do anything further to end the marriage, but the illegitimacy of the marriage results in the spouse losing all rights within that relationship.
βSo technically, Farida has no rights within your marriage relationship but she may not know it now.
βBut hereβs where the problem lies. If she finds out the effect of this bigamy on you, are you sure sheβd be able to look away like Nkem?
βI doubt! I would think that Farida and her mother will likely want to have you incΓ rcerated for five years!
βAnd that brings me to what I said in the beginning about not shooting yourself in the feetβ the lawyer told Joe who humphed loudly.
βSo what am I going to do now? I canβt keep living with a girl who not only tried to make me lose my wife and my child, but also brought in another manβs pregnancy into my house.
βThat girl and her mother nearly killed my mother! They even went as far as messing with the ventilator in the hospital, and if my wife hadnβt arrived the instant she did, my mother would be deΓ₯d nowβ Joe said.
βThen, why arenβt we prosecuting them for the criminΓ l offΓ¨nce?” the layer asked him
βBecause she already messed with the CCTV footages, the evidence of her crΓmeβ Joe said, and gave the lawyer a complete rundown of what he had learnt that day.
βAs it stands now Engr. Joe, your wifeβs advise to keep acting like you do not have any suspicion at all will be the most rewarding, pending when we can lay hands on substantial evidences to prosecute the mother and daughter.
βIβll make some calls and get back to you soon. But please, by all means, watch out for your safety tooβ the lawyer told Joe before he headed out.
Joe detoured to a shopping mall and got some extravagant gifts for Farida on his way home.
βWelcome darling! How is mama? Has she remembered anything yet?β Farida asked almost agitatedly.
βMama is very okay. She seems not to want to remember, and I kind of prefer it that way.
βI hΓ£te for her to recall that we were having issues before the rΓ²bbers attΓ£cked her.
βSo Iβm kind of happy that sheβs not willing to recall. Meanwhile, how have you been?β he asked her, kissing her cheek lovingly.
Mandy smiled happily where she sat and asked of Nkem.
βSheβs there, trying to act like sheβs cool with my mother, when I know sheβs so pΓ ined that she wonβt be able to hΓ»rt the pΕor woman.
βIts no surprise that she didnβt even make a move to talk with me, she must have been so uncomfortable, having me around, when her boyfriend could appear any momentβ Joe said with a frown.
βItβs okay Joe. You can forget about that woman. You have a wife and child here to worry aboutβ Mandy said concernedly, then giggled triumphantly, giving her daughter a high five, as soon as possible walked into his room.
TO Be Continued
