Douala man files legal complaint against wife for conjugal deprivation

In Douala, Cameroon, a 55-year-old forestry technician, Adolphe M., has filed a legal complaint against his wife, Odile, for “conjugal deprivation.” The dispute arose in the Banguè neighborhood after the couple's five-year-old grandson began sleeping in their marital bed, which Adolphe claims has prevented any intimacy for approximately eleven months.

Adolphe stated that the situation began when their daughter entrusted the child to them. Despite other available rooms in the house, Odile insisted the child share their bed. During a legal hearing with gendarmes in Bonanjo, Odile admitted to imposing a “fallow” period on the marriage, suggesting it was intended as a punishment for her husband, though she did not specify the reasons.

While Adolphe considered sleeping in a separate room, authorities warned him that a bailiff's report could interpret such an action as abandonment of the marital bed, potentially harming his legal case. The matter is now being referred to the courts.