AS if the socioeconomic hardships being foisted on the citizenry by the suboptimal policy decisions of the ruling elite are not generating enough pain and anguish, some ordinary Nigerians are also in the habit of inflicting pains on other people out of sheer ignorance and wickedness. Or how do you describe the stark-naked parade and torture of a housewife, Mrs. Ajuse Egwatu, on the allegation that she killed her husband, Udorji Egwatu, with sex, and for being adulterous? How could any reasonable group of persons subject a full grown female adult to such barbarism over two largely unproven and unsubstantiated offences, which in reality do not even constitute crimes within the jurisdiction where they were allegedly committed? And assuming but not conceding that the alleged offences were proven, is self-help the opposite means of meting out punishment in a 21st century community where there is supposed to be rule of law? The savage treatment of Mrs. Egwatu should not be allowed to go unpunished as it is despicable, most uncivilized, and should not be condoned by any decent society.

A cursory look at the alleged offences reveals their hollowness and inability to stand the scrutiny of the law. One, Mrs. Egwatu was accused of killing her husband with sex overdose. Can this really be an offence, since the husband had the right of refusal, especially when he was neither a baby nor an invalid? Or is there any evidence that she forced her husband to perform his conjugal rights against his will? Is it that having sex with one’s husband now constitutes a crime just because an outcome which neither of the two anticipated happened? And in any case, what medical diagnosis indicated that the man died of sex overdose? What if he had been battling serious ailment? And what lesson is to be learnt from stripping the helpless woman: that women should not kill their husbands with sex? The incident is rather curious and absurd. For instance, every woman is expected to share intimacy with her husband, so how do you now determine the offence of killing a husband with sex? The implication is that any woman can just be accused of being the cause of the death of her husband and treated harshly, especially in a polygamous setting. That can be really dangerous. The incident was not just a show of shame, it was utterly preposterous.

Two, adultery which is the other allegation against the Mrs. Egwatu, is an offence, but only on social/moral grounds. And even at that, should the accusers be the judges in their own case? Traditionally, such alleged incidents were usually reported to elders and chiefs who would ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the allegations. Above all, while adultery is morally reprehensible, it is not an offence known to law in the Southern Nigeria. The Criminal Code which is the law that punishes crime in the South does not make adultery an offence. Yet in the instance case, the accusers have taken the law into their own hands and criminally dehumanised the woman beyond measure. And that was the case only because the violators could not reckon with any consequences that could attend their barbarous act since they have a history of impunity on their side.

And because they and many others before them had done similar things in the past without any form of pushback, the hoodlums who violated Mrs. Egwatu videotaped their act of savagery and placed same on the internet, perhaps with the objective of shaming her eternally and throughout the whole world, but that in itself is counterproductive. The reality is that in parading her around town naked, her tormentors missed the irony in their actions: they were advertising their own barbarity, and by inference the savagery of the community, to the whole world. The nakedness of the accused actually points to the mental nakedness of the community. But such ignominy was patently avoidable.

The key point bears stressing, namely that the miscreants did what they did because they were certain they would face no consequences. And that is why we urge the law enforcement agencies to make examples of these lawbreakers this time by launching a thorough inquiry into the incident and identifying and bringing all the culprits to book. Already, the state police command has arrested some suspects, including the native doctor who allegedly informed Egwatu’s relations that he died because of his wife’s infidelity, and indicated that the deceased had in fact been ill, while the accused woman herself alleged that in spite of his weak state following his illness, the deceased had in fact been beaten up by one of his relatives following an argument. It is thus comforting to learn that the Anambra State government is already showing more than a passing interest in the case.

Proper handling of the case in favour of humanity and against pernicious socio-cultural practices will perhaps be a good way for the new government in the state to begin the social version of its planned reforms.

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