In a bizarre incident, a Muslim cleric in Uganda was suspended by his mosque, after his newly-wed wife turned out to be a man in reality.
Sheikh Mohammed Mutumba (27), working as an Imam at the Kyampisi Masjid Noor mosque in Uganda, was left shocked when the truth was revealed two weeks after his marriage when his wife was caught stealing a neighbour’s TV set and some clothes in Kayunga and was searched by the police.
After being arrested, a female police officer carried out a body search on the suspect, as the suspect was supposed to be a woman, but the officer found out that ‘she’ was actually a man.
According to reports, the imposter, Richard Tumushabe, later admitted that he had pretended to be a woman so that he could marry the Imam and steal his money.
The Mosque dismissed the cleric from his duties following this shocking revelation saying that it was to “preserve the integrity of their faith”. Mosque officials said they suspended the imam despite confirming he had entered the marriage thinking Nabukeera was a woman.
The cleric speaking to a local newspaper said that he was under the impression that he was getting married to a woman named Swabullah Nabukeera when they wed in December. Mutumba claimed that they didn’t consummate the marriage because she told him she was menstruating.
One of the cleric’s friends also revealed that the cleric had complained four days after the wedding that his new bride refused “to undress while they slept”.
Amisi Kibunga, who also works at the mosque, said that they were also fooled by the imposter as he usually wore a hijab and spoke in a “sweet soft voice” and “walked like a woman”.
The case is being investigated. The cleric has not been available for comments as he was known to be staying at his relative’s house while receiving counselling to recover from the shock.