Woman divorced for bleaching

QUESTIONS of beauty are uppermost in the minds of many women.

The tragedy of this very powerful and wealthy industry, however, is that too many women become its victims.

A woman from Hwange has become the talk of her area — DRC section in Empumalanga — after her husband of 10 years reportedly divorced her for bleaching her skin.

Ironically, Ellen Moyo bleached her skin to please her husband Norman Mabutho only for him to divorce her for that.

A source who spoke to B-Metro said Mabutho came back from South Africa where he works, a fortnight ago and found his wife looking different.

The source who claimed to have intimate details of the incident said Ellen decided to bleach her black skin after she once discovered that her husband was cheating on her with a light-skinned woman.

She reportedly thought bleaching her skin would make her more attractive to her husband and thus prevent him from having extra-marital affairs.

"The move, however, backfired when her husband who works in South Africa came back and found her looking different.

The bleaching seemed to have ruined her skin, something which didn't go down well with her husband.

"When her husband saw her, he was shocked because she was really light in complexion.

Her husband was also complaining over the smell of her body which he said was no longer good," said the source who declined to be named.

Mabutho who also suspected his wife of cheating claimed that was also the reason why she had decided to bleach her skin.

The source said efforts by relatives and friends to help the duo to solve their differences hit a brick wall.

"Relatives and friends tried to convince the husband to stick with their marriage but he refused.

The shamed wife is now going around telling people that she is the one who opted out of the marriage since her husband was cheating on her and is declaring that she will never ever get back with him," the source said.

Spirited efforts to speak to Ellen were fruitless as her phone rang unanswered.

B-Metro also contacted Mabutho, who did not respond to text and WhatsApp messages sent to him on his South African number.

Meanwhile, an investigation by B-Metro revealed that skin lightening creams which are unlicensed and unregulated by the Government, have flooded the market in the country.

According to research the skin lightening creams contain a chemical called hydroquinone, which suppresses the production of skin colour.

They also contain mercury, a potentially dangerous substance which can interfere with kidney and nervous system function, and steroids, which can cause thinning of the skin.

Some of the popular creams sold on the streets include Movate, Carolite, Betasol, Diprozone, Epiderm, G'n' G and Bio Claire and are not authorised by the Medicines Control Authority's licensing and regulatory board, which tests products for banned substances.

Common side effects of the creams include uneven bleaching, intense irritation or even cancer.

Dermatologists are also on record warning that long-term, unsupervised use of skin lightening creams can cause a range of skin problems.