My husband has disgraced me. I feel ashamed and sometimes I just want to disappear. He ran away and left the children and me to face the shame alone. Now I am solely responsible for the kids because of his actions.
In December, three men, a woman, and a girl they said was 13 years old came to our house. I was outside washing while my husband and the children were inside watching television.
They asked to see him. The way they looked made me uneasy, so I asked what the issue was. One of the men became angry and started shouting. His shouting brought my husband outside.
The moment my husband stepped out and saw the girl, I could tell he knew what this was about. The men rushed and started beating him. I tried to intervene and asked what was happening. That was when I learned that my husband had been chatting with the girl on WhatsApp.
They said he was discussing love and relationships with her and had even asked her to send inappropriate pictures. They showed me the messages. It was his number. He couldn’t deny it. I was deeply ashamed.
By then, more than 40 people had gathered at our house. Some came to watch, others tried to stop the fight. People were shouting that he should be taken to the police. Some called him terrible names.
I felt like the ground should swallow me. My children were standing there watching everything.
Later, someone suggested settling the matter peacefully since nothing physical had happened yet. But others argued that he would have gone further if they hadn’t intervened. Eventually, they left, demanding that he meet them later with money and schnapps.
That night, I couldn’t even speak to my husband. I was overwhelmed with anger and shame. Around 10 p.m., while I was in the bathroom, he left the house. I haven’t heard from him since. The people still come knocking on my door, demanding compensation.
They don’t believe me when I say I don’t know where he is. Now I’m alone. People in the area gossip about me. They call me “the woman whose husband wanted to sleep with a 13-year-old.” Some even ask if that is why he ran away.
I don’t have the means to relocate, so I’m stuck here. It’s hard for me and the children to go out. My eldest is 10 and feels the tension too.
My husband’s family claims they don’t know his whereabouts. He is 43, not a child. He should face the consequences of his actions. But leaving me and the children like this, with nothing, is cruel.
I feel alone and humiliated. I mostly stay indoors and buy in bulk to avoid going out often. Please, what do I do? How long should I wait for him to return? He still owes me an explanation. I am hurt and disappointed.
