By A Correspondent- It is apparently akin to bereavement, for any man to discover that you are not the biological father of the child you were raising for years.

A man from Bikita, Masvingo province seems to have been unlucky to be a victim of paternity fraud when he made an unwelcome discovery that the child he helped to raise for almost 10 years was not his biological product.

Admire Mangaye from Jefta village under Chief Mpakwa was deceived by his wife Tendai Muguraumwe into believing the boy he supported for 10 years was his own.

The matter came to light after Mangaye approached Chief Mpakwa’s traditional court demanding compensation from Joel Musariri for impreg_nating his wife.

It was also after Muguraumwe’s younger sister, who was always putting pressure on her to confess to her husband that he was not the biological father of her third child, revealed the secret to Mangaye.

Upon confrontation, Muguraumwe confessed that she was impreg_nated by Musariri.

At the chief’s court, Muguraumwe also shocked villagers when she shamelessly revealed her cheating escapades saying the child was born out of a one-night stand with Musariri which happened in the bush.

“I had a child from an impetuous one-night stand, with Joel Musariri in a bush. I kept the baby because I had wanted a child, although not necessarily under those circumstances. I also wanted se_x at that time since my husband was in South Africa.

“It was fortunate that a few weeks after I slept with Musariri my husband came back and we had se_x but I was already preg_nant. When I gave birth my husband who seemed to have been suspicious quizzed me if I had not slept with another man and I insisted that the child was his until my sister who was privy to the secret later sold me out,” said an apologetic Muguraumwe.

She maintained that despite the fact that she cheated on her husband she was still in love with him. She went on to beg her husband to forgive her.

Her devastated husband, however, indicated that both Muguraumwe and Musariri should compensate him for making him look after a child that was not his.

Chief Mpakwa, who confirmed the incident, said he was yet to come up with a “proper” ruling after it emerged that Musariri had also bedded other married women from the village.

-BMetro