A young woman, Maitri Mangala, has shared her painful story of how her wedding day turned into a disaster when her groom, whom she met on Facebook, disappeared on their wedding day.
The young woman, who had faced numerous hardships in her life, detailed the series of events that led to her current plight.
According to her narrative, her ordeal began after her previous marriage ended due to abuse.
“I had a challenging upbringing since I lost my parents at an early age I met a man whom I thought would provide the parental care that I never received but i was wrong, after giving birth to two children it became clear that the marriage was very abusive and difficult this left me in tears and i decided to part ways with him and move to Nairobi church.”
She recounted how she started anew in Nairobi, turning to selling beer before taking on various casual jobs to support her family.
“I started experiencing difficulties in buying food and I was unable to pay the rent, it dawned on me that I was Jeopardizing my own life I have made a commitment to myself to not return to the father of my children as a result i made a decision to quite working at a bar instead took up casual jobs washing other people’s clothes… My daughter has just started primary school so i left our house and rented a different one with the increases and expenses, life became even more challenging however i have made a promise to myself to keep pushing forward.”
In her quest for a better life, Mangala met a man on Facebook who presented himself as a high-ranking soldier with a luxurious lifestyle.
The man, who claimed he was serious about marrying her, convinced Mangala of his sincerity through frequent messages, nice photos, and donations to her church.
”I met a man on Facebook, he used to text me frequently even when i did not reply i would find messages from him telling me that he was a soldier with high rank he would also show me photos of the beautiful villa he had bought which seemed like a dream compared to the life i had experienced however he didn’t just want to date me, he wants to get married, he was charming and polite, he spoke with such conviction and kindness he even asked me to take him to church and when i did everyone there trusted him because of his sweet tongue and generous donations to the pastor, this made him seem reliable and generous and i thought i had found a perfect partner.
Believing in his promises, Mangala introduced him to her pastor and aunt, who were also impressed by his demeanor.
However, the man’s requests for money under the guise of wedding preparations and home-building loans began to raise suspicions.
Despite these red flags, Mangala continued to trust him, even borrowing money from friends and family to fund the wedding and make it a memorable occasion.
“He was always so convincing, whenever he asked for money, he would say it was for our wedding preparations he also explained to me that he had taken out a loan from a bank to build our future home which we would share once we get married he assured me that all his payments were going directly towards paying off the loan which made perfect sense to me I never questioned him because i truly believed in our future together to further solidify his credibility I introduced him to our pastor who also admired his personality i thought to myself that there is no way someone who deceives the pastor could be dishonest he even showed me pictures of our home and painted a picture of the happy luxurious life we would have together as i had no parents to seek guidance from I brought him to meet my aunt who also approved of him however when he arrived at my aunt’s house, he claimed that he had forgotten his wallet at home and asked us for some money to cover the cost of the bike he had bought desperate, we had to sell some of our crops to come up with the money i tried to explain to my aunt why it wasn’t a big deal and she seemed convinced little did i know i should have paid much closer attention to this red flag”
On their wedding day, however, the the man disappeared, leaving Maitri with a mountain of debt.
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