This is a practice I know so well about & privy to one in the past. A lot of nairalanders's already pinned down on the basic reason for the practice. It is aimed at giving a legitimate status to children borne from a liaison that was not consummated in the real sense & also serve as a deterrent to the young ones. It is seen as a taboo to take an ibo daughter in, impregnate her & have several children with her without marrying her properly the native way. Its not compulsory to have a white wedding, but you just have to marry her the traditional way, else you will have to marry her if she passes on living with you by performing all the rights as required. In some cases, extras are added to serve as a penalty.

Note that the man is not meant to sit with the dead woman or lie with her. It involves just performing the full rights of marriage as obtained in such communities.

Pronto.

The rate wey some of my people take deny the practice na em dey make me laff.
Baffling! You gotta say.

ifyalways: Seriously how stupid and daft can one get
One lousy fella, wakes up and hears or manufactures some papal bulls then comes online to sing "this is igbo culture, I heard my mom say this" etc and folks like seriously believe that?

No where in igboland is such a "sick imagination" pratised please.
The real deal is if a man co-habits with a woman without paying her dowry and marrying her properly in the traditional way and the woman dies unfortunately in his house, he has to pay her dowry properly before going ahead with the funeral rite.

it happened to my dad's younger brother, he got a woman pregnant but unfortunatly she died wit d pregnancy, my uncle has to marry her dead body b4 they cld bury her, this happened btwn mbano (my uncle) and mabise(the lady). So it happens oooooo

There is absolutely nothing wrong in the practice. I boast to my Canadian and Caribbean friends that the word 'Bastard'has no meaning in Africa. This is one way of avoiding having bastards.

joymary7:

it happened to my dad's younger brother, he got a woman pregnant but unfortunatly she died wit d pregnancy, my uncle has to marry her dead body b4 they cld bury her, this happened btwn mbano (my uncle) and mabise(the lady). So it happens oooooo

Do you have a problem with your sight?
Did i say it does not happen?
How is what you typed different from the last paragraph of what you quoted.

ifyalways: Do you have a problem with your sight?
Did i say it does not happen?
How is what you typed different from the last paragraph of what you quoted.

Maybe u are having problems with ur brain, i was only trying to suport wat u were saying for others to knw

You were supporting me? Is this a contest ?

Oya, sorry for misunderstanding you. Ndo

ifyalways: You were supporting me? Is this a contest ?

Oya, sorry for misunderstanding you. Ndo

Hugs

Sorry to take you guys back, but this is true. My uncle married from Imo state and his wife died last month after spending so much money from one hospital to the other.

He paid her dowry and did all the other stuff, though there was no ceremonious wedding, but they did all the traditional stuffs and his father in-law was happy with him and everybody else.

Not long ago, the old man died, then just last month my uncle lost his wife,now the family are pestering him that he must marry the dead wife before being buried. This man is crying and thinking everyday now cause he is confused and been reduced to half his weight...this is so sad.

^^What's he crying about?

Crying that he lost his wife and her family still pestering his life. He has 3 young kids to care of all alone. The man is down emotionally...

newmusic: Sorry to take you guys back, but this is true. My uncle married from Imo state and his wife died last month after spending so much money from one hospital to the other.

He paid her dowry and did all the other stuff, though there was no ceremonious wedding, but they did all the traditional stuffs and his father in-law was happy with him and everybody else.

Not long ago, the old man died, then just last month my uncle lost his wife,now the family are pestering him that he must marry the dead wife before being buried. This man is crying and thinking everyday now cause he is confused and been reduced to half his weight...this is so sad.

I'm sorry bro, this post is not clear.
How many people are you talking about? 1,2, or 3?
Your uncle lost his 'wife'? Why is there any need to 'marry' the 'wife' a second time? Unless they were never married in the first place, in which case he should respectfully carry out the necessary rites as custom demands!
If your uncle co-habited with his girlfriend to the extent of having kids with her... Then I'm sorry to say that was irresponsible on his part! What was he thinking?
There is no big deal about this!

Sadly this is true...never believed it until my dear Aunty (RIP) is going thru it..she suffered in life and now she is suffering in death as her father refused her burial until her "husband" come and do the proper marriage rights which they did not have enough money to do to begin with....SMH....I am traumatized by this because my dear Aunty has been sitting in the morgue for 2 going on 3mnths now and it pains my heart..as someone said, it only happens when the "husband" did not complete the full right of marriage but nonetheless it's barbaric and I hate it..if you ask me it's wickedness to my poor Aunty and also to her husband who can't even find enough money to feed let alone perform marriage n burial rights....she has been left in the morgue like nothing and they refuse to bury her...sadly I'm too far away USA, otherwise the kind of pain I will be feeling, only God knows..anyways I'm proudly igbo but we cannot shield evil just to defend our tribe. This practice is pure evil and should be wiped out of igboland so my Aunty can rest in peace....it's already sad she suffered in life, must she suffer in death too.......

its not evil. cant he just do the ceremony and be done with it its purely sumbolical.

^^If you ask me, your aunt's boyfriend is the wicked person here!
How much would it cost him? Especially in a situation like this. Trust me, it isn't much?
I don't believe you know the whole story about your aunt and her boyfriend.

PAGAN 9JA:
its not evil. cant he just do the ceremony and be done with it its purely sumbolical.

It is evil and symbolizes nothing. Her father refuses to bury her because he's still mad that she did not tell him she was getting married (don't really know the story). Money is also playing a big part of it as well as tradition. I mean I don't like this tradition that would leave a dead woman in the morgue for so many months. It's unfair to her and to me it doesn't symbolize anything but wickedness.

kwangi: ^^If you ask me, your aunt's boyfriend is the wicked person here!
How much would it cost him? Especially in a situation like this. Trust me, it isn't much?
I don't believe you know the whole story about your aunt and her boyfriend.

You may be right since I don't know him that well but one of the reason (I'm hearing) my aunty died is because of poverty. She did not have enough to eat or money and she did not tell us. So pls tell me where would a man who did not afford to feed his family get money to both marry and bury his dead wife....where Idc about these traditions. Just bury my aunty so she can rest in peace.

ChiScoroko:


You may be right since I don't know him that well but one of the reason (I'm hearing) my aunty died is because of poverty. She did not have enough to eat or money and she did not tell us. So pls tell me where would a man who did not afford to feed his family get money to both marry and bury his dead wife....where Idc about these traditions. Just bury my aunty so she can rest in peace.

You don't believe that hunger killed your aunt, do you?

ifyalways: Seriously how stupid and daft can one get
One lousy fella, wakes up and hears or manufactures some papal bulls then comes online to sing "this is igbo culture, I heard my mom say this" etc and folks like seriously believe that?

No where in igboland is such a "sick imagination" pratised please.
The real deal is if a man co-habits with a woman without paying her dowry and marrying her properly in the traditional way and the woman dies unfortunately in his house, he has to pay her dowry properly before going ahead with the funeral rite.

English hard o. Pay bride price/marry Kini difference?

ChiScoroko:

It is evil and symbolizes nothing. Her father refuses to bury her because he's still mad that she did not tell him she was getting married (don't really know the story). Money is also playing a big part of it as well as tradition. I mean I don't like this tradition that would leave a dead woman in the morgue for so many months. It's unfair to her and to me it doesn't symbolize anything but wickedness.

she doesnt have to stay in the morgue. just do a simple traditional marriage ceremony and leave. it is to legitimize it.

there is no wickedness. you are just making a big deal of it.