SISTERS IN LAW



I'm watching a documentary as I type, its called "SISTERS IN LAW" about two sisters Vera Ngassa and Beatrice Ntuba, they're lawyers trying to bring change to their city of Kumba? Cameroun. I'm watching because I am going to contact them, I have to contact them, I love what they are doing and I want to see how they can work with our NGO S.A.F.
There's a case they're working on right now, a woman ran away because her husband beats her and forces her to have sex and she's afraid to sleep at home, so they're in court, the husband is being charged for assault. Now his lawyer's only defence is that the woman is a bad wife because she left her house and has left her husband hungry, and his clothes dirty, I mean COME ON! The husband claims that the wife has been sleeping with another man because as a "muslim" you always have to tell your husband where you are going and she didn't and that was why he beat her.
When one of the sisters started her cross examination, the "wife beater" (I dont know his name) claimed that afterall she's still a woman and she should watch how she talks or something like that...Anyways closing statement comes along and the male lawyer wants the court to send the wife back home to her husband, that he has learnt his lesson because he will be found guilty and thats harder than any punishment he could be given...SERIOUSLY!!!!
The one that caught me was the grown ass man that raped a 9 yr old and claimed with a straight face that the girl said she was horny and wanted to sleep with him. The Lawyer sister now asked "You mean to say this 9 yr old girl came to you, she's breastless, and she wanted to have sex with you, you refused so she cut herself and started screaming?" The man said YES! I wanted to die.
Anyways they found him guilty, then the he-goat opened his disgusting shithole of a mouth and said that he knows that he has been found guilty but they should treat him nicely because he is an orphan. GROWN ASS MAN o. Like that was not now bad enough, they sentenced the man to 9 yrs in jail, and then decided that as he is an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT he should be deported back to his home country................THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA! as in I screamed, my neighbour actually knocked on the door.

Anyways, buy it, SISTERS IN LAW Am watching a woman who beat her 6 yr old niece/stepsister,with iron hanger, because she sent her to go buy bread but she wanted to watch tv, the girl's back was all bruised, her eyelid was even torn. The girl ran away for 3 days and the woman didn't even bother to look for her. CHEI! And then when the girl's other relatives came she claimed the girl fell, like seriously. Apparently the woman uses the small girl like a maid, and she has children too you know.
That reminds me of the time my friend Jude went to Nigeria with some of the cast of his movie "The Tenant" and they saw this girl carrying shopping bags and two adults behind her, I think one slapped her or something because she dropped a bag and the certain cast member who's Jamaican was shocked that there was still slavery in Nigeria. *shakes head*
Growing up we had "maids" but if you ask any of them, they probably will tell you that they felt at home at our house. I remember in Primary school, my mum would wake me up at 6am, to boil water, sweep the "compound" before preparing for school, by the time I was on my way to school the maid would just be getting up. I know if I enter Nigeria tomorrow and one of my mum's "domestic staff" takes it upon them to clean my room I won't hear the last of it, but today is not about my mother its about the SISTERS IN LAW.


One of the sisters made a fantastic point towards the end of the documentary, she commented on how she's been practicing law for 17 years, and it was only in 2004 that she was able to convict two men of domestic violence against their spouses and both women were MUSLIM. One even managed to get a divorce from the Sharia Court. Oh damn, I think I'm moving to Cameroun.


"that justice may reign"

5 comments:

Yellow Vespa Guy said...

intense.
cameroon? why....I mean, can I tag along?

Naijadude said...

Maids? Was i just thinking about them this morning, how ppl use or rather abuse them in Nigeria shows there's still a great deal of development to be done!

soul said...

I had the courtesy of watching this for free on Terrestial TV in the UK.
I caught the episode which showed the woman who beat her niece. She had told the father she was going to take care of the child when his wife died but dang she treated that chiold like ... hmm

I also remember the woman who wanted to leave her husband and I recall his lawyer as well. He was such a prat. The funny thing that was going through my mind was.. wow theirs a heck of a lot of igbo people who are muslims in the north and then I realised this wasn't Nigeria at all it's cameroun.. they sure did look like Nigerians to me.

It really was a good documentary series.

laspapi said...

Strong topic, mamrita. I like your template.

Mamarita said...

Y.V.G.: NO!
Naijadude: I agree we should start a proper movement against abuse of "house helps" They are there to help not to be treated like animals
Soul: I know eh, I so thot they were Nigerians too their accent sounded Nigerian to me. Am glad you enjoyed the documentary, very informative.
Laspapi: Thanks, I like my template too :)