21/05/2026
My name is Ayen, and my husband and I lived peacefully in Gudele for years. We were not the kind of couple people pointed at because of constant fighting. He took care of the children, paid school fees, settled the bills, and made sure food never lacked in the house. To outsiders, we looked like a happy family.
But there was one issue that kept hurting me deeply ,money matters. My husband never discussed his finances with me. I never knew how much he earned or what he planned financially. Yes, he gave me money for the house when necessary, but whenever I asked for support for my own family, he would either refuse or delay until he felt like helping. I never demanded aggressively; I begged respectfully, but it became painful always feeling like an outsider in my own marriage.
Last week, we had rabita ( women saving group ) at my friends house,I told my friend about my husband and During our conversation, she casually mentioned her husband’s salary and how they both planned finances together. When I told her I didn’t even know how much my husband earned, she looked shocked and said, “That man does not truly love you.”
Those words broke me completely.
That night, I could not sleep. My mind was restless. I kept replaying her words over and over. Around midnight, I woke my husband up and told him we needed to talk. He was tired and said he had work the next morning and wanted to sleep. I begged him for just five minutes, but he became irritated.
Out of frustration and anger, I slapped him.
What happened next shocked me. My husband immediately stood up and started beating me badly. I never imagined he would raise his hands on me. I cried uncontrollably that night and, in pain and anger, I called my brothers.
By morning, my brothers arrived at our house furious. Before I could calm them down, they started destroying my husband’s car inside the compound. I kept shouting and begging them to stop, but nobody listened to me.
Later that same night, things became even worse.
Some men attacked my husband on his way home from kuburi habuba and beat him mercilessly. I later received a call that he had been admitted to the hospital in critical condition. My father became extremely angry and disappointed that the whole situation had escalated beyond control.
When I finally went to the hospital, I met his mother and sisters there. I had delayed because I was home alone with our baby and two other children. The moment his mother saw me, she exploded with anger. She shouted that I had always hated her son and that I should leave him alone forever. His older sister, who had flown into Juba from warrap immediately after hearing the news, joined in insulting me publicly.
The painful part was that my husband said absolutely nothing.
He just lay there silently while his family humiliated me.
Days later, I found out my husband had officially reported my brothers to the police. They were arrested and charged to court over the attack. Then his lawyers contacted me and instructed me to leave,the house immediately. Just like that ,after years of marriage and three children together ,I was suddenly being treated like a stranger.
Since then, my husband has completely stopped speaking to me. No calls. No messages. Not even to ask about the baby.
This is the first serious issue we have ever had in our marriage, and now everything is collapsing before my eyes. I told him that yes, I made a mistake by slapping him, but as a man, he should have walked away instead of beating me. But now things have gone too far. My family is angry because he had my brothers arrested, and his family hates me because they believe I caused everything.
Now I sit here in silence watching my marriage fall apart, wondering how one painful night in Gudele destroyed everything we built together.
Story by Ayen
✍🏾 woro
What should I do because I love him and value my marriage?