Tradition in many parts of Cameroon dictates that there is no such thing as natural death. Widows are therefore subjected to various rituals to determine whether or not they are responsible for their husband’s death. Elise Makouintcheu went through such an ordeal in November 2010.
At the end of the two-month period, she was taken to a stream for a ritual bath. “I felt very humiliated, because I had to walk naked through the village to get to the stream. It was at daybreak but there were still people in the streets,” Elise recounts.
After the bath and several rituals, the grieving widow was asked, by one of her sisters-in-law, to urinate in the presence of everyone in order to prove her innocence in her husband’s death. “My bladder was blocked because of the stress and the crowd. I only managed to do it an hour later,” Elise recounts. More...
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At the end of the two-month period, she was taken to a stream for a ritual bath. “I felt very humiliated, because I had to walk naked through the village to get to the stream. It was at daybreak but there were still people in the streets,” Elise recounts.
After the bath and several rituals, the grieving widow was asked, by one of her sisters-in-law, to urinate in the presence of everyone in order to prove her innocence in her husband’s death. “My bladder was blocked because of the stress and the crowd. I only managed to do it an hour later,” Elise recounts. More...
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