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PATERNITY fraud could rank among the vilest form of Gender Based Violence (GBV).
In its most cruel form, a woman may claim that a man has fathered a child with her when she knows that it is not true. The man may then be forced to pay maintenance for a child that is not his until the child turns 18 years old.
This means paying for the child’s food, clothing, schooling, medical expenses and everything a father is expected to do for his offspring.
Usually, fathers develop a deep bond with such children and the man makes monumental sacrifices to ensure the child does not feel his absence, if he is estranged from the mother.
In some cases, some women may find out later in life that a person they named as the father of their baby is not the one, while some do it deliberately.
Sometimes, paternity fraud may be committed in marriage where a woman happily lets a man believe he is the father of “their” children when she knows very well that not an iota of his genes are in the children.
The story of ex- Amakorokoza actress Natasha Popova Sibanda who, allegedly led a city doctor to believe he had sired a baby with her and made the doctor maintain the child for 11 years is a tearjerker. Dr Roger Kruger Hendrick Chigangacha is now demanding US$163 000 compensation from Sibanda in a lawsuit filed on 20 January this year, after DNA tests proved he had been living a lie for a long time.
What will the doctor do with the relationship he had forged with the child over the 11 years? How will the child feel if he suddenly withdraws his love and support?
With the advent of DNA tests that can prove paternity without a doubt, more women are being caught out in the cheating game.
In 2021, our sister paper, the Sunday Mail reported that: “EIGHTY percent of men who suspect their partners cheated on them are having their suspicions confirmed by DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) tests.
Information gathered from leading DNA laboratories in the country by The Sunday Mail Society shows a massive surge in demand for voluntary paternity tests by both married and single men in the last two years.
“Previously, it was mostly the courts that drove couples to undertake tests as a way to settle maintenance or inheritance disputes. But, with recent court statistics proving that over 70 percent of women who claim maintenance from alleged fathers were paternity cheats, men have naturally become sceptical…”
A woman who spoke to B-Metro recently, alleged paternity cheating is mostly done deliberately.
“Women simply want a man who can take care of them and provide for their needs. If a woman who has multiple sexual partners falls pregnant, she is likely to name the guy who can provide for her the best, as the father,” said the woman.
With the frequency of paternity fraud in the country, perhaps DNA tests should be made compulsory before acquisition of birth certificates to get rid of this evil practice.
Online Reporter
