Among the culture of the Dagaaba people, Before a woman is given out for marriage or when a Dagao man marries a new wife, some curses are invoked on the marriage and sacrifices made during the marriage ceremony in an attempt to keep the woman faithful to her husband.

If in the course of the relationship, the woman breaches the vow by cheating on her husband, then the woman would have to be cleansed as it the custom of the Dagaabas that any wife who has cheated on her husband with another man cannot enter her marital home unless she is purified.

It is a taboo for a Dagaaba man’s wife/Dagao lady to have any sexual relationship with another man even if the man is a member of her husband’s family. The woman is declared as a ‘spoiled woman’ until the necessary rituals are performed.

Any man who touches the breast or kisses or caresses a Dagaaba man’s wife in a sexual or romantic manner has rendered her not to be pure and therefore, she must be purified traditionally before she can cook or sleep with the husband otherwise the husband may die upon eating his wife’s food or have sex with her in her uncleansed state.

It is also believed that if a woman indulges in the abominable act without confessing for fear of being divorced by her husband, she may die.

Also, a married woman who engages in a sexual affair with another man while away on a journey would have to confess and be purified on return before she can enter her marital home.

If a woman is distant from her husband and engages in adultery and stays away for so many years until her husband dies, the woman would have to confess for the rituals to be performed before she can step foot at her husband’s funeral or perform the widowhood rites, otherwise she may die.

However it is alleged that some wives who engage in adultery nowadays succeed in reverting the curses invoked during their marriage ceremonies to save their lives by taking what was used for her dowry to a traditional priest to revoke the curses.

When this is done, it woman becomes free to have sexual contact with another man either than her husband but nothing would happen to her.

Source: Bamie Tahir-Ahmed