« J'ai payé un marabout pour le rendre impuissant » : Les sombres secrets des premières nuits de noces en régime polygame
In Senegal, polygamy, although deeply rooted in social realities, remains a source of tension within many households. While some men manage to take a second wife without major conflict, the first wedding night with the co-wife is often a critical moment, marked by intense emotions and sometimes extreme reactions.
Between superficial acceptance and deep jealousy
After ten years of marriage, Coumba saw her husband take a second wife. A decision she initially accepted with understanding. "I preferred that he marry rather than go courting elsewhere," she confides.
But in reality, things proved far more difficult. Her husband's first wedding night with his co-wife turned into a real nightmare. "I couldn't bear the thought of him sleeping with another woman," she says, still deeply affected by that period.
Overwhelmed by jealousy, she tried everything to prevent the night from unfolding normally: hiding her car keys, arguing, locking her husband in a room. Despite the intervention of family members, she spent the night crying, unable to sleep. Over time, Coumba says she eventually accepted the situation, though not without pain.
"I paid a marabout to make my husband impotent."
Not all reactions are limited to scenes of jealousy. Some women go much further. Rama, for example, claims to have resorted to mystical practices to prevent her husband from consummating his second marriage.
“I couldn’t bear to see him with another woman. I paid a marabout to make him impotent,” she stated bluntly. According to her, her husband was unable to consummate the marriage.
In some cases, the tension escalates into violence. Testimonies report fights, assaults, and even attempted murders linked to these situations.
In Pikine in 2018, a woman seriously injured her co-wife with a machete as the latter was on her way to their wedding night. More recently, other cases report altercations in hotels or marital homes, sometimes with legal consequences.
Astou admits she was prepared to go to great lengths to prevent her husband from bringing his co-wife into the house. "I was ready to kill her and go to prison," she confesses, recalling a scene where she chased her rival with a club.
Faced with these extreme reactions, some women choose silence and resignation. Sophie recounts how she concealed her pain when her husband went on a trip with his other wife for their wedding night.
"I pretended to accept it. But once I was alone, I cried all night," she confides.
Between social norms and human realities
While polygamy remains socially accepted in many circles, these accounts illustrate the gap between norms and the emotional realities experienced by some women. The first wedding night with a co-wife thus appears as a moment of rupture, where jealousy, suffering, and incomprehension can be intensely expressed.
For several observers, these situations raise the question of psychological and social support for couples facing polygamy, in order to prevent intimate tensions from degenerating into tragedies.
![[Billet d’humour] Diomaye Président : Mbour, le test qui interroge](https://image.seneweb.com/content/news/2026-19-10//thumb_1260x800_6a008342c328b_0bscHsJLlN.jpeg)
Commentaires (16)
Participer à la Discussion
Règles de la communauté :
💡 Astuce : Utilisez des emojis depuis votre téléphone ou le module emoji ci-dessous. Cliquez sur GIF pour ajouter un GIF animé. Collez un lien X/Twitter, TikTok ou Instagram pour l'afficher automatiquement.