A housewife, Constance Bartholomew, has accused her husband, Paschal Bartholomew, of assault and abandonment after he married another wife.
The 45-year-old woman, who spoke to journalists in Owerri on Wednesday, accused her husband of blinding one of her eyes.
Constance said though she had reported the matter to the police and her husband arrested and later granted bail, she was in severe pain.
She said, “I am married to Paschal Bartholomew, a lecturer in the French Department of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede. We got married in 2010 but we had dated for eight years before we got married.
“I can’t see anything again with my right eye. My husband battered it. He got it blind after I opposed his decision to take our child to witness his court wedding with a woman from Canada whom he met on social media.
“My husband is 46 years old. He dragged me out of the house I built with him immediately he met the Nigerian woman, who lives in Canada.
“In March, my husband asked me and my only son to go to my father’s house to find out the reason why I had not conceived after our first child and that he would never love me again. When I left for my shop, he removed my property from the house. Our only child will be six years old in September.
“On April 10, 2022, he brought a new wife and introduced her to our only child; a lady he met on social media.
“On April 14, he came to my shop and took our only son without my consent and took him to our house which he chased me away from. I later went to the house to know why he took our child without my consent.
“We then started dragging our son. He beat me and hit my right eye. I begged him to take me to a hospital, but he refused. He said I deserved to be blind.
“I want him to restore my sight and give me the property I bought with him. Our property shouldn’t be sold. It should be left for our only child. I want justice.”
The woman’s uncle, Fidelis Nwebele, said Paschal was in the habit of maltreating his niece.
“We have already reported him to his traditional ruler. We are not against him getting a new wife but we want justice for destroying one of her eyes. We don’t want the marriage to continue,” he added.
Paschal, however, denied abandoning his wife and child.
He said, “She remains my first wife and our son remains my first child and son. I have undertaken the responsibility to take care of the medical expenses. I didn’t do any court wedding with my second wife. It was a traditional wedding.”
