Can two wrongs make a right? Can violence cure violence? In a country where it is very hard for a domestic violence victim to get justice, some families are now taking the fight directly to the abusers.
Twitter user, @NaijaClassCaptain shared the story of how the brothers of a domestic violence victim defended her.
While some may applaud their actions, do you think that is the right decision to take?
Three years ago, my neighbor almost killed his wife. And himself too. They’ve been married three years. She was a businesswoman, and he was production engineer with shell
They’d met at an exhibition. She was blown away by how he carried himself. How he talked. How handsome he was. She couldn’t understand how he could be all these and still rich
Truth is that my neighbor is handsome, well learned, rich but he’s also a beast. But the truth is, he was also a cheat, a ‘divorcee’ and a professional womanizer. They had hit it off and before we knew it, she had moved in together. Family visits happened and dowry was paid. My neighbour’s wife’s father was a a traditional ruler and she has three brothers
The fist time he beat her, his reason was that the food she served him was warm and not hot. Before she could take the food to the microwave oven, blows followed– in rapid successions. Neighbours rushed to help. But they were locked in. She was bleeding by the time he opened.
He said that anybody that takes her to the hospital should keep her when they return. That nobody should dare it. When she got better, she was advised to quit the marriage. She said neighbors didn’t understand, that each marriage has it’s own challenges Everybody was like okay
Two weeks later, he beat her again. This time, she lost a tooth. Unknown to us, an FBI neighbor, had contacted her brothers. And came visiting. All three of them, tall and huge. That night, we didn’t hear any noise of them beating him or anything, they came and left after a while
Little did we know that they came to warn him that if he tried it again, that he would be shooting himself–in the head. Six months later, now heavy with child, the monster struck again. By the time he was done, blood, blood and blood was how the scene could be described
She was rushed to the hospital. Doctors spent the next five hours struggling to save both lives. The child was lost, but the woman managed to hold unto life–by the whiskers. That night, her brothers showed up, baseballs bats in hand. And screams were heard
We were subjected to bedlam, all over again, only this time, it was a different kind of bedlam. For about 30 minutes, screams and squeals and cries of a cornered male kind pervaded the air. It was bad. His two legs. gone, no pulverized.
That night, they took every piece of belonging that belonged to their sister and left. That was the last time, we heard screams coming from that flat. He was flown abroad for medical help. He still cant walk without help.
Me I’m not sure what to think, whether that was good for him or if he deserved it. What if he had died? What if his wife died? What if he went to court? Too many what ifs.