Fury of jilted pregnant woman on wedding day

Eight-month pregnant Agnes Wanjiru (left) is restrained by a friend when she stormed ACK Jehovah Shammah Prayer Centre in Pipeline, Nakuru, on Saturday in a bid to stop a wedding.. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Every bride dreams of a perfect wedding day. They day is supposed to be a celebration of a union between two lovebirds.

For Agnes Wangari, this day was December 29, 2018, a day she and her spouse will never forget. Not only because of its significance to their relationship, but also because it was the day the adage 'hell has no fury like a woman scorned' was put into perspective. 

It is the norm during weddings for the presiding cleric to ask those opposed to the union to 'speak now or forever hold their peace'.

During Wangari and Dennis Kinyanjui's wedding at ACK Jehovah Shammah Prayer Centre in Pipeline, Nakuru County, 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru could not wait for this moment. She wanted to stop the wedding even before it began.

She claimed that the groom was her husband of three years.

“I want them to recognise me as the legal wife. I am pregnant and my husband is leaving me in this situation. I have been in a relationship with him for the past three years and I have documents including the health insurance where he listed me as his spouse,” she said as she banged the church's gate.

Wanjiru said she was informed about the wedding on Friday evening by a friend. She claimed the arrangements were kept secret.

“I am not forcing him to marry me, I just wanted to shame him. The bride is also allegedly pregnant. We have an agreement that he will support me throughout my pregnancy. I will show up at their honeymoon,” she said.

Wanjiru's mother, Lucy Wanjiku, claimed a church where Kinyanjui, Wangare and Wanjiru worshipped had refused to officiate the wedding.

"They moved to another church where a different pastor officiated it despite our efforts to have Kinyanjui support Wanjiru until she gives birth," she said.

At 12.30pm, the bride was ushered into the church compound in a ceremony which was presided over by Livingstone Kimani of Heroes of Faith Church in Ponda Mali.

Newlyweds Dennis Kinyanjui and Agnes Wangari rush to a waiting car. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

The ceremony was low-key, and the gate was kept closed and those getting in were invites only. 

The mood was, however, tense as a jilted Wanjiru and her mother stood outside, patiently waiting to throw what maybe would have been the blow that would have put the two asunder. 

Wanjiru and her friends engaged the rival group in a shouting match, with only a wall and a metallic gate separating them.

Meanwhile, journalists efforts to access the church were thwarted.

"This is an invites-only event. It is a celebration of love, because the lovebirds got married months ago and nobody opposed it," an usher told reporters.

At 1.30pm the bride walked down the isle. Minutes later, ululation filled the church, even as Wanjiru and her group struggled to get in.

Tactfully covered

The cake, meant to ice the occasion, was tactfully covered at a secluded corner.

At 1.38pm, Wanjiru scaled the gate and soon she was in the church compound. Ironically, the rival group did not react.

Journalists too scaled the wall in a bid to capture the perfect shot. 

The calmness in the church proved to be that which comes before the storm.

Suddenly, Wanjiru and her group started banging on the metallic door. Some broke window panes to try to access the church. This clearly was not the fairy-tale wedding Wangari must have dreamed of.

The group's efforts to get into the church bore no fruit. The pastor hurriedly officiated the wedding, ignoring the protests outside. At 2.35pm, Kinyanjui and Wangare were declared married.

The cake and the food remained untouched as the bride and groom were whisked into a waiting vehicle and it drove off. They refused to address the media. The pastor too was whisked to a waiting car, which sped off. The bridal party followed suit, leaving the venue of the high drama.