Man commits suicide after wife of 12 years told him their only child was fathered by a stranger

A man has reportedly committed suicide after his wife confessed to him that the child he called his was fathered by another.

Jacob Numku, a farmer and petty trader from Toto community in Nasarawa State, had been married to Juliet for 12 years without a child. And it seems God has finally answered his prayers when Juliet finally got pregnant last year and sometime in November they welcomed a beautiful baby boy.

However, his joy turned to sadness after his wife confessed to him that the son he thought was his actually belonged to a young man named Uchenna.

According to a report by The Nation, Juliet had met Uchenna during the course of her business and the duo had a fling. Eight months after their romance started she got pregnant, the pregnancy was celebrated by the Numku family who thought their son was responsible for the pregnancy.

But five months after delivery, Juliet travelled to Keffi on the pretext that she needed medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC). However, once she was out of town, she phoned Numku and told him the bitter truth. She added that she was on her way to Keffi to return the baby to his biological father.

Juliet further compounded Numku’s misery by telling him she prefers to spend the rest of her life with Uchenna because of the satisfaction she got from sleeping with him.

Though Numku had become depressed and withdrawn in the days following the shocking revelation by Juliet, no one in the family suspected that he could go to the extent of taking his own life, The Nation reported.

The paper said Numku in an earlier interview, two weeks before he committed suicide, had reminisced about his joy when the child was placed in his arms for the first time. He said he had vowed to be a wonderful father.

“To say that I am devastated is an understatement. There are no words to aptly describe the loss that I feel,” The Nation quoted Numku as saying.

“After grappling with infertility for more than 11 years, I thought I was finally a father. I lived with the pains of the pregnancy and I was there at his birth.

“It was the most incredible moment of my life. I called friends and relatives to tell them the good news that my pains and shame were over. I never knew that I was celebrating somebody else’s child.

“When she told me that she had missed her period, I was happy. And when the child arrived, I was overwhelmed with emotion as I announced to whoever cared to listen that God had finally answered my prayers, only for me to find out that he is not really mine.

“It is a huge loss akin to a bereavement except that the grief is twisted, even magnified, because he is not dead.

“I am no longer a father. I am left with not only a bleak chasm of loss but also an enormous sense of betrayal.

“Her delivery was the proudest moment of my life, but she knew from day one that I was not responsible for the pregnancy. Today, there is no longer the usual cry of a baby in my house.”

News Direct reports that The Nation also quoted Juliet as insisting that Numku and her never had any sexual intercourse during the period she became pregnant.

She wondered what gave Numku the impression he was the one that fathered her son.

“Yes, he was my husband but he was not the father of my son. That is the truth and I can’t hide it from him,” The Nation quoted Juliet as saying.

“We stayed together as husband and wife for 12 years without a child. I did everything humanly possible for us to go to the hospital but he refused, and his only excuse was that God would bring a child at the appropriate time.

“The truth is that we never had any intercourse during the period I took in, so what made him think he is the father?

“In the course of my business, I met a young man; he toasted (wooed) me and in view of all the odds, I agreed and submitted myself to him.

“During this period, I made sure that my husband did not even see my pant. There was an opportunity and I wanted to test another man to know where the problem lied. The guy was actually giving me the needed satisfaction and in less than nine months, he was able to impregnate me.

“It is better I tell him this early because I am no longer interested in the marriage. If he wants, let him to go to court. I will bring the child for a DNA test to be conducted to prove what I am saying.

“The truth is that the man (Numku) never slept with me during that period, so it is not possible for him to be responsible for the pregnancy.”

According to the paper, Uchenna claimed he never knew Juliet was married when he wooed and began to have sexual relations with her.

Uchenna described Numku’s situation as unfortunate but insisted he’s not about to let go of his son.

“I only got to know that the woman was somebody’s wife when she was about to put to bed. I could not have ‘toasted’ somebody’s wife,” The Nation quoted Uchenna as saying via mobile phone.

“I blame her seriously for misleading me into sleeping with her; I never knew she was somebody’s wife. I am the biological father of the boy and I have taken him. It is unfortunate but there is nothing I can do. It is my blood.”

Two weeks after the extensive interview with The Nation, Numku committed suicide by hanging.

Numku’s younger brother, Danjuma, who spoke on his demise said,

“It is unfortunate that he decided to kill himself because of a woman. What is the big deal in a woman telling you that you are not the father of her son?

“He claimed to be a man of God, but look at what he has done? Since the thing happened, I have been advising him to let it go, that it had happened to so many people and they moved on.

“He looked so worried about it that every day, I would advise him to calm down and forget about the woman.

“But since he feels that killing himself is the solution to the whole problem, so be it.”