From CHAMBO NG’UNI in Serenje
A STRANGE marriage between a man and his biological younger sister in Serenje has shocked many people with Chief Kabamba describing the incestuous union as a taboo.
Mukuwa Nicholas Bulya, 38, and Bertha Chipapuka, 35, got married in 1999 – after the demise of their parents – according to Central Province police commissioner Standwell Lungu.
Chief Kabamba said in an interview yesterday that he is shocked by the marriage of the siblings.
“This is something that has come with shock to us because this is a taboo according to our tradition. Such things should not be allowed to happen,” he said.
Chief Kabamba said that it is good that the ‘marriage’ has been exposed and that his two subjects are now in police custody.
He said the matter was “complicated” but the intervention of the police will put the matter to rest.
Police sources in Serenje yesterday told the Daily Mail that some years back, when the incestuous couple had their first child, the matter was reported to the police but the family withdrew the case, saying it wanted to resolve it among themselves.
The family resolved that the two be separated and Mr Bulya relocated to Chalilo in Chief Chitambo’s realm.
He, however, returned to his ‘wife’ and they now have five children.
Their children are aged 13, 10, 8, 6 and 11 months.
Their first child is in grade seven, the second is in grade three and the third born in grade two.
Mr Bulya, who is in police custody in Serenje, denies being the father of Chipapuka’s children but preliminary police investigations have revealed that they are his.
The source said relatives have confessed to the police that the five children belong to the siblings.
Their elder sister who lives on the Copperbelt informed the police on December 31 last year about their incestuous marriage.
The source also said when the police went to Bulya village to investigate the matter around 02:00 hours, they found the two sleeping on the same bed.
Serenje district commissioner Charles Mwelwa said: “This is a bad thing, and it is against the law and the biblical teachings.”
Mr Mwelwa said the “couple’s” family should have reported the matter to the police earlier, unlike now when they even have five children.
Several Serenje residents are also shocked that Mr Bulya ‘married’ his own sister and has fathered the children she has.
One resident asked: “Where was the family when the two were having children?”
“I know them and I am shocked by what has happened. I used to sing with them in the choir at church,” he said.
The two were expected to appear before the Serenje Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
They will, however, appear in court today, Mr Lungu said yesterday.
573 total views, 556 views today