By Kingsley Mawuli Dogbey

A 45 year old unemployed man, Kudzo Awuye, who hails from Tetekope near Adafienu in the Ketu South district of the Volta Region, has crippled his wife of seventeen years after subjecting her to gruesome beatings for accusing him of infidelity.

The Herald gathered that Esi Kudoglo, 40, an employee of Eco-brigade, operators of Zoil, who has being playing the role of a husband in their marriage, sometime last year, suspected her man of cheating on her with a lady who also works with Zoil.

She confronted her husband on August 27, 2009, who took offense and mercilessly assaulted her, rendering her a cripple.

Two days later, Kudzo invited a nurse from Sape-Agbo Memorial Hospital at Denu to treat Esi at home since she could hardly walk. Her condition became critical and finally she had to be rushed to the hospital.

Interestingly at the hospital, Kudzo confided in the nurse who was initially treating Esi at home that he has indeed been cheating on his wife but the medical report on Esi should state that she fell with a bucket of water and not that she was beaten up.

Meanwhile, since Esi was admitted at the hospital, neither her husband (Kudzo) nor his relatives supported, let alone visited her. Esi therefore had to abscond in order to manage her situation at home as she could not settle her medical bills.

Surprisingly, on December 4, 2009 when Esi went to her husband’s house after persistently refusing to pick her phone calls, he again heartlessly assaulted her in spite of her already deteriorating health condition. The police was informed and he was subsequently arrested.

Kudzo’s family then started pressurizing Esi’s mother to withdraw the case for an out court settlement but the old woman was adamant since Esi’s condition kept deteriorating.

The matter was reported to the Queen mother of Adafienu, Mama Ayaba II, who in turn reported it to the Denu branch of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and subsequently bought clutches for Esi, which she walks on presently.

Efforts by the Ketu CHRAJ office to get Kudzo to appear before it on the case have proved unsuccessful, compelling the matter to be sent to court.

The court has since referred Esi to St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital, Koforidua for a full assessment of her physical damage.

Meanwhile, the Dzodze District Magistrate court presided over by Mr. Anthony Abebrese has granted Kudzo Awuye bail to re-appear before court on July 25, 2010.