It all started in 1986, in Edo state, esan Central to be precise, the lady Itua has been married two years already to a very large family well know for their wealth and fame, her father in-law married so many wives and as the case might be, jealousy was the order of the day, her mother in-law died years before she was married into the family for this reason her father in-law channelled the love he had for his late wife to his son Raymond the husband of Itua and he did same to Itua too.when Itua had her first child (a boy) in 1984 it was a great celebration in the village that day itua's husband could not contain his joy, her father in-law quickly requested for a goat to be brought and slaughtered for the celebration... The other wives became so jealous but you dare not talk in the presence of the great ozigi (itua's father in-law).. Itua enjoyed her home and her marriage till 1986 when the great ozigi fell ill, he wouldn't go to the hospital, he wouldn't allow a physician see him at home, he only allowed Itua take care of him, he was taking herbs only because it was prepared by itua continuously. Two weeks later the great ozigi passed on. Itua shed tears, wept bitterly knowing what the future had in store for her, she mourned the great ozigi more than his children, she wept bitterly, some of the wives even mocked her that her god was dead, all she did was weep.
Few days after the burial the whole trouble started, she was hated for no reason, little things she did and got away with became a crime,she only had her husband who was barely around, her husband's siblings where constantly giving her hell,soon she became the topic of the village, fingers where continuously pointed at her, then came Edwin her husband's only brother from the city who was from the begining jealous of his brother right from when they were young, he wanted everything his brother wanted including Itua his brother's wife.he tried to seduce her severally with words but the woman wouldn't bulge... This made Edwin hate Itua so much that he shout at her at any slightest provocation, any time Itua hears that Edwin is visiting she gets a high blood pressure.in the month of December the same year 1986 itua's husband was returning home from Lagos for the yelutide when he had a fatal accident that claimed his life. The news got to the village the next day from a driver that transited from Edo state to Lagos, they had taken Raymond's body to the morgue waiting for his family to come pick his remains, Itua only got to hear the news from a little girl who came to the compound to draw water from the well, she noticed the compound has been so busy and people whispering when she was passing she never knew it concerns her, until the little girl broke the news to her, she ran out looking like an insane woman to find out if it was true, then the sympathizers tried to calm her all to no avail, she wept and wept, because she knew what was awaiting her, she had just two children, where will she start from, who will she run to, the next day Raymond's kinsmen travelled to Lagos to bring his corpse,when they got to the entrance of the village the sympathizers followed the ambulance weeping all through to his father's compound. Itua on seeing the ambulance screemed and fainted people rushed to her trying to revive her, it was after 20 minutes she gained consciousness, she was rolling on the floor crying.that evening the kinsmen met and plans where made on how to bury Raymond....
The women of the compound and the women in the village started pointing accusing fingers saying in their family young people do no die, that his wife must be responsible for his death, that she must stay with the corpse for 7days, her hair and pubic hair must be shaved, she will wear cloths like rag, with ashes on her body and hair, and on the seventh day she will drink the water that will be used to bath the corpse. Itua cried knowing that nobody will rescue her from her ordeal. She couldn't go back to her people because her step mother was trouble and that was why she married early in the first place. Edwin, Raymond's brother on hearing the story rushed to the village when he saw Itua he ran towards her and gave her a resounding slap right in her face and shouted " you killed my brother you witch", she wept bitterly crying I am innocent, while she was still weeping the oldest of the women in the village came bearing a Calabash containing the razor blade to shave her hair, Itua was asked to sit on bare floor by the old woman saying a woman that killed her father in-law and her husband the same year do not deserve anything less, she had two able body youth pin her to the ground while she was trying to defend her self.. her hair was shave till her scalp was smooth... 
)
She couldn't eat nor drink, we was weeping uncontrollably, for every night that passed she was spending it with a corpse locked in the same room, there she will touch her husband and weep bitterly she wasn't allowed to see or touch her children, on the seventh day being the last day of the ritual, the youth was asked to bath the corpse and prepare it for burial and the water should be brought to the village square for the wife to drink to prove her innocence, the youth did as commanded, Itua protested that she cannot drink the water, she was immediately slapped by a young woman married that year into the village, the other women yelled you must drink that water you witch, if you refuse then you have proved us right that you killed your husband she cried trying to convince them of her innocence, that very day a youth from Itua's village came to see his friend who was at home an thought of what they were doing as barbaric because he has been exposed to the western world, so when his friend asked him why he didn't go to the village square, then he narrated the whole story to his friend, on hearing the name of the woman involved, the guy grew impatient, he wanted to know if it was the same Itua he knew, he then begged his friend to please take him there because if it was her then he needed to act fast that is if it wasn't already late....
Itua was asked to knee before the coffin of her dead husband, with a Calabash by her side, while other rituals were been carried out, when this young man and his friend from the neighboring village got to the village square, though lean and tear bags in the eyes he could still recognize the beautiful Itua, he left there in a haste like something was chasing him to get his bike from his friends house, he rode as fast as he could on getting to the entrance of the village he started calling for the attention of the youth to assemble in Itua Father's house, he then narrated what he saw, that was how the youth sat in two's and three's on a bike racing to the village where Itua had married from.....
Itua was already being forced to drink the water, when this youth started jumping off a still moving bike, on sighting them Itua threw the Calabash and it's content away, ran to retrieve her kids from her husband's sister who was sitting across from her,and ran towards her kinsmen.... That was how Itua was rescued from the barbaric act....
Some places in Africa still practice this act till date, when a man dies his wife is blamed to be the cause... In Africa it's a man's world