"Why No Proposal?"... 20s Zambian Woman Sues Boyfriend After 8 Years Together

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] In Zambia, a woman in her 20s filed a lawsuit against her boyfriend for "not proposing despite promising to marry."

On the 10th (local time), foreign media including the Daily Mail reported that Gertrude Ngoma, a woman in her 20s living in Ndola, Republic of Zambia, sued Herbert Salariki, the father of her child and her boyfriend.

According to reports, they had been dating for eight years, had a child together, and were engaged to be married. It was also reported that the bride price had already been paid on the premise of marriage.

However, Ngoma stated in court, "I got tired of waiting a long time to get a definite answer about marriage," and "Salariki was never serious about marriage. I sued because I believe I have the right to know the path we are going to take."

She also said that her trust was broken after discovering that Salariki had sent text messages to another woman.

In Zambia, it is traditional for the groom to pay a bride price to the family of the fianc?e as a sign of commitment to take care of the wife. Although Ngoma paid the bride price for the marriage, it was reported that she canceled the wedding and is now living with her parents.

Salariki countered, saying, "I want to marry Ngoma, but I am not financially stable enough to hold a wedding." He also claimed, "Ngoma does not give me as much attention as I want because she has a bad relationship with her parents, with whom she lives, so I do not want to marry her."

The court stated, "Since the two are not legally married, there is nothing we can do at this time," and added, "The two should try to resolve their differences outside of court."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.