A man who cohabited with a woman until she died recently has been forced to perform the necessary marriage rites before her burial.
Emmanuel Lutterodt, a pastor, shacked up with Leticia Dansoa for six years at Tafo-Kwahu, producing two children, of which one died.
However, Dansoa fell ill recently and died, following which the pastor reported the death of his live-in girlfriend to her family.
However, the family claimed not to be aware of any union between their daughter and any man, as custom demanded.
Thus the head of the deceased’s family, Nana Ameyaw II, instructed that Pastor Lutterodt, thus, could not be admitted to Dansoa’s funeral until he performed the marital rites, in line with tradition.
Pastor Lutterodt complied with the order, paying the dowry and fulfilling all required marital customs as Dansoa laid in state on Saturday May 21, with an officiating minister in attendance to bless the ceremony.
He was also fined GHS1500 as penalty for breaching custom by living with a woman whose rites he had failed to perform; he, however, could afford only GHS700, which Dansoa’s family accepted.
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