The social media has been agog with public outrage since last weekend over the death of gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, whose life was allegedly cut short midstream on account of extreme domestic violence. The passage of the singer, whose songs have impacted greatly on many Christians, has sparked outrage in the polity. Hers was a definition of an angelic voice. Scores of people, including her mother and twin sister, have given heart-wrenching testimonies about how she lived a dreadful and agonizing private life. Her husband, named Peter, was said to have tormented her and her family. He 
did not only abuse her physically, he abused her emotionally. I need to put a caveat here that no one has heard his side of the story, but there is a unanimity of oral evidence from acquaintances that Osinachi’s marriage was hellish. I listened to her mother and sister in an interview thet granted to British Broadcasting Corporation (Igbo), where they spoke in tears and gave vivid description about the hell of a life Osinachi lived in the name of marriage. It was life in perdition. An analysis of Peter’s psyche, going by the stories that have found their way out of the closet, especially from Osinachi’s mother and sister, would tend to suggest that his mental state may be questionable.
He allegedly abused his wife on all fronts. His mother-in-law touched a sore nerve when she revealed that Peter never allowed her visit his house, even when her daughter gave birth. The cultural nerve centre of relationship between women and their married daughters in Igboland, Omugwo, was desecrated by Peter. For all the four children her daughter had, Peter never allowed her to come and take care of her daughter. Osinachi’s mother suffered emotional abuse given that the bonding with her daughter and grandchildren was shattered by a man who had no family values. Osinachi was said to have endured the emotional and mental damage until she had her second baby, told her mother that she could no longer stand it. She sent Osinachi’s twin sister to bring her home from the toxic marriage. She came home, and had peace. One year after, Peter came back on his knees, and emotional Osinachi followed him back to Abuja in spite of her mother’s warning.
Osinachi’s twin sister had a raw deal in Peter’s hands. Amid tears in the interview under reference, she revealed how Peter vowed to cause both physical and emotional separation between the sisters, and he did. It was sacrilegious to break twin sisters, insisting that they must not sing together in display of their singing prowess. The family members could not visit their daughter in her home, contrary to the cultural norm of people being married into families. Peter had his own concept. He put the entire family into trauma.
That Peter was dependent on his wife for sustenance given that he was her manager ought to have turned him into her guard even if for selfish reasons. He was the one who collected fees for her performances, yet she allegedly suffered lack. She stuck in there for personal and societal reasons. She was the goose that laid the golden eggs and yet starved. There are indications that Peter may have had psychological challenges by having his wife provide for the family. He may have been driven into seeing his wife as his ‘property’, which was why whatever income she made became his to control. I do not like divorce but you should not stay married at the risk of your life. I think the church must not insist that people stay on in abusive relationships in defense of fidelity. There are clear indications that the church would have treated her like a leper had Osinachi walked out of that marriage. The blame would have been swept to the door step of her talent for making her so arrogant to resist control. Pastors would have cited her as a bad example, and might never invite her for programmes in spite of her singing prowess. The foregoing would happen even in the face of public knowledge of her problem. Society has unjustified stigmatization of single and divorced ladies. No one seems to bother about the prevalent circumstances. The foregoing constitute the reasons women stay in toxic marriages. We still live in a man’s world in this clime. The church where she worships has said it was ignorant of Osinachi’s ordeal. She may have been suffering and smiling. Lots of women wear Osinachi’s shoes. It pinches them so badly but they dare not say it. There was the story of a Nollywood star, a lady, who had the courage to walk away when her husband-turned-manager made her a hungry producer of golden eggs. She walked away and took her children with her. She dared the society.
I hold that Osinachi died that other women may live. I understand that the minister of women affairs, Pauline Tallen, has taken it upon herself to get justice for Osinachi. As I my ink was drying up on this article, news came that Peter has insisted that his wife was sick before death. He did not kill her. He did not deny that the relationship was toxic. The courts would determine when the matter gets there. But what is justice for Osinachi? Is it death by hanging for Peter or a long jail term? Or what? None of those can bring back the departed woman. The legacy for me, outside her songs, remain her children. I understand that the church has undertaken to take care of those children. That, for me, is a kind of justice for the late woman. Her children must not suffer or forfeit their education on account of her unfortunate demise. It is enough that they have lost a loving mother, but those innocent children must not literally die with their mother. They could be given to their maternal grandmother. Those children must not suffer.