- Cherop has four children in the marriage but argues that the union with her husband had reached a point of no return owing to constant threats to her life.
- She wants the court to dissolve the marriage so that she can leave peacefully.
Image: ERICK BARASA
International marathoner Sharon Cherop has moved to the High Court in Eldoret to dissolve her marriage to Mathew Boen, a former marathoner.
She cites threats to her life, desertion and cruelty as main grounds.
Cherop, 38, has four children in the marriage but says the union has reached a point of no return as a result of constant threats.
She wants the court to dissolve the marriage so she can leave peacefully. They have been married for more than 10 years.
Cherop was the bronze medal winner in the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and won the Boston Marathon in 2012.
She argues that Boen, being short tempered, has been threatening to kill her on several occasions at their matrimonial home in Eldoret.
“Our marriage has irretrievably broken down and hence my decision to seek divorce," she says in court papers.
They have lived separately since last December when she moved to court. “Boen is an alcoholic hence incapable of being fully in-charge of his temper or judgment,” Cherop says.
She says the temper and alcoholism are some of the reasons causing the fear for her life.
According to Cherop, her estranged husband has always been an absentee father to their children and that whenever he comes unannounced to their matrimonial home, he is always drunk and accompanied by some strangers.
“Our union has always been toxic with frequent feuds that have impacted on the safety of my life,” Cherop said.
At one time she said Boen took advantage of her absence when she went to Abu Dhabi to participate in a marathon, to sneak into her house without her knowledge.
In his response, Boen has dismissed Cherop’s claims as frivolous, vexation and a clear abuse of court process, hence the petition should be dismissed with cost.
The former marathoner cried foul saying his wife had moved to court with unclean hands for none disclosure of material facts, adding that she does not deserve the orders sought to end their marriage.
He says the court ought to be informed of true facts. “The reason she is seeking for divorce is not the grounds she has stated above but purely our multi-million shilling joint business and property which the petitioner wants to take control and not anything to do with marriage.”
Boen also denies threatening to kill his wife. He explains in court papers that he has never threatened or been abusive to his wife as she alleges in her petition.
“The petition has been brought in bad faith with the purpose of embarrassing me and my family,” he says.
He adds that the matter came as a surprise to her. “I am surprised by allegations on oath by my wife that I am an absentee husband and yet she is the one who brought armed police officers into our matrimonial home to evict me in the glare of our children.”
Boen says their marriage has not broken down as she claims and that allegations in the suit were not true.
The case is set for mention on April 1,2022.
-Edited by SKanyara