oddly enough

oddly enough

Uganda’s top court bans ‘bride price’ refund after divorce

KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda’s top court on Thursday banned the practice of refunding bride price – normally livestock given by the groom to his bride’s family – when a marriage ends in divorce.

The Supreme Court agreed with activists that the practice undermines the dignity of women, but it upheld the practice of paying a bride price.

Activists who petitioned the court had hoped the whole culture of giving gifts would be declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it reduces women to the status of property.

Still, Leah Nabunnya, a spokeswoman for a Ugandan group that launched the case, said the court’s decision is a victory for women’s rights.

“The court’s pronouncement is a win for us,” said Nabunnya, of the Mifumi Project.

Nabunnya said studies conducted by her group show that many women are stuck in abusive marriages because quitting means their families will be obligated to make a refund of the bride price. Such women’s families often cannot afford to return the gifts, she said.

In banning the practice of returning gifts in the event of a failed marriage, the judges said Thursday that women were not commodities being traded in the marketplace.

Stolen French horn returned to woman after five years

MUKILTEO, Wash.

A Mukilteo woman has her French horn back, five years after it was stolen out of her car.

The Daily Herald reports that a man found the horn – a high-end, brass triple horn – in a Redmond pawn shop in 2011. He decided to return it after coming across news stories about the theft.

The horn belonged to 61-year-old Terry Preshaw, an attorney who also is first horn in the Mukilteo Community Orchestra. Preshaw bought the instrument used in 2009 for $6,500, but it was stolen after she left it in her unlocked car outside her Everett office the following year.

She says she’s stunned and grateful to have her horn back.

Would-be Tarzan reportedly tried to climb into monkey area

SANTA ANA, Calif.

A man who claimed to be Tarzan has been arrested after he purportedly climbed a tree and tried to get into the monkey exhibit at a Southern California zoo.

A zookeeper called 911 Tuesday morning to report that a shirtless man plastered in mud had climbed about 20 feet into a tree at the bird exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo.

Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna tells City News Service that the man, who apparently was high on methamphetamine, claimed he was Tarzan and tried to crawl into a monkey exhibit.

He had left by the time police arrived, but he was taken into custody a short time later.

Associated Press