Women of the 'red thigh'

By Anthony NgatiaIn Elechi Amadi's novel, The Concubine, there is a beautiful woman called Ihuoma. Outwardly, she seems the ideal bride.However, she seems dogged by a curse. Every man who marries her and consummates the marriage dies mysteriously. The villagers, shaken by this scary trend, decide to call in a traditional priest to explain the phenomenon.“Listen,” he begins, “Ihuoma belongs to the sea. When she was in the spirit world, she was a wife of the sea-king, the ruling spirit of the sea. Against the advice of her husband, she sought the company of human beings and was incarnated. “The sea-king was very angry but because he loved her best of all his wives, he did not destroy her immediately she was born. He decided to humour her and let her live out her normal healthy span and come back to him.“However, because of his great love for her, he is terribly jealous and tries to destroy any man who makes love to her.”And with that long account, Amadi introduces us to an intriguing phenomenon in African romance.Stunning beautiesWelcome to the intriguing world of femme fatales. Just about every community in Africa has its fair share of these women who go by different names. The Agikuyu refer to them as atumia a chiero ndune — women of red thighs. Like Ihuoma, they are stunning beauties, romantic, charming and many men willingly die for them.On the perched, undulating hills of Mutara, Laikipia County, there lives such a woman. Physically, she seems the perfect woman and many a man would love to have her as his bride. But wait until you have heard her story.She has a sad, and some would say jinxed background. When she first got married, her husband, a cattle broker, died 13 days after she delivered their first-born. He was gored by a bull and died instantly. It was a terrible blow to the young wife.“God’s case has no appeal,” villagers consoled the bereaved. Being still young, elders later advised her to get herself another suitor. So after two years of bringing up her daughter, she hooked up with a second-hand vehicle dealer. Their romance blossomed and everyone agreed that theirs would be a marriage made in heaven. Arrangements were made and bride price paid in a hurry by the love-smitten man. When finally the couple tied the knot in a colourful ceremony rarely witnessed before in the area, they made a fetching couple. The lovebirds were always together and the glow of their love never seemed to fade. Grief-strickenAfter a year, the woman gave birth to a baby boy. As she nursed the little boy, disaster struck. Her husband was abducted by unknown people, killed and his body dumped by the roadside. The grief-stricken villagers could not fathom how unkind nature could be to an individual. To lose one’s husband once was understandable, but twice — and within such a short time — was, however, difficult to comprehend.“It’s the devil and his wicked ways,” pious village women concluded. Villagers doubted whether the young woman could take any more emotional battering. But as if her cup of woes was destined to overflow, she got three other husbands but they all have died mysteriously. James Wangombe, whose uncle was one of the victims, is surprised that even with the setbacks, the woman is still flourishing. She is as graceful and beautiful as she was over ten years ago when he first knew her.At Wiyumiririe shopping centre on the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway where she plies her trade, is a marked woman. Men speak of her ‘curse’ in hushed tones during the day yet at night, they go looking for her. She is reputed to have the ‘red thigh’ and it is now believed that any man who sleeps with her ends up dying.die mysteriouslyAt another village in Ngarua Division, Laikipia County, lives a turbaned woman. Well into her 40s, she has lost four husbands. Every time she got a child with a man, he would die mysteriously. Stephen Theuri, an acquaintance of this writer who is familiar with the woman, says: “She is stunningly beautiful. As a result, she attracts many suitors but unfortunately, they all die.” According to Theuri, the woman has the ‘red thigh’ and since nothing can be done about it, then it behooves men to keep their distance from her.Samson Kingori claims to be some sort of authority on such women. “They are exceptionally beautiful,” he says. “The red thigh symbolises a bad spell, and does not necessarily mean their thighs are red although most have a brown complexion.”“The curse of the femme fatale is so vicious that it won’t go away until death has claimed the seventh victim,” says Lydia Nyachomba, a resident of Karatina town. She gives a case of a woman in her village who was rumoured to have the red thigh.She was beautiful, seductive and men fought for her. Within ten years, she had brief stints with six men and all died. She has six children, all by different fathers whom she supports from her job as a barmaid at Karatina.Schoolteacher Peter Maina says, “These women are beautiful but cause death to their husbands, hence they are dangerous.”Myths and factOther people have a more complex view of the phenomenon.Kingori Gikaria, a literature graduate, does not dispute about the existence of such women but he has reservations.“It has to do with how we have been socialised that we explain mysteries through myths. In our communities, we sometimes confuse myths with fact.” Femme fatales, he says, could be the victims of male chauvinism that portrays women as evil.Jackson Imathiu, a student at Egerton University says that although he has heard the rumour of a femme fatale within campus, he is yet to actually interact with one.Good time“Within campus, there is one girl who is rumoured to have the red thigh. I know her although we have never spoken. So I don’t know how true the rumour is.”Justin Kirugumi, from Nyeri, has an interesting explanation for women of the red thigh. He claims to know one at his village, Gakindu. He explains what a red thigh means as understood in his village. “These women are beautiful but do not give birth as they are barren. What happens is that on account of their beauty, lustful men go to them. “But the tragedy is that as they are having a good time, one develops a strange bodily complications and from there they start being dogged by strange ailments until they die.” In ancient societies, the femme fatales are depicted as sexual vampires whose charms leach the virility and independence of lovers. In some African communities, an evil spirit often from the sea, is portrayed as a beautiful but evil woman.According to Mzee Wachiori, an elderly man based at Nyahururu, women of the red thigh were indeed there even in the old days. But contrary to what people think that their thighs are red, they in fact are normal females. “What is termed red is a birthmark somewhere inside the private parts and it was only the circumcisers who knew about it and then afterwards they would warn young men against flirting with the girl,” he says.Pastor Mwangi Mathuka of the African Independent Pentecostal Church of East Africa sums up the issue thus: “Although I have heard about these women and even from callers to vernacular radio stations, biblically I am yet to encounter such a woman.” “I think those women who are seen as if they are different from the others are labelled as such,” he says.&#12288;

Women of the 'red thigh'

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