'Goat Man' of Sudan Becomes a 'Widower'
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Charles Tombe just may be the world's most unique widower.
The Sudanese man's bizarre story first came to light more than a year ago when a newspaper in his hometown of Juba reported that he had been caught having sexual relations with... a goat.
Tombe was arrested, and later told a Sudanese judge that he was drunk at the time and didn't realize what he'd done.
The judge, however, relying on tribal law, passed judgment and equated Tombe's crime with that of a man caught sleeping with an unmarried girl, who would be ordered to marry her immediately to protect her honor and that of her family.
The judge, therefore ordered Tombe to pay the owner of the goat ? named Rose ? a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars (about $50 at the time) ? and marry the goat.
Hand-and-hoof, the two returned to Tombe's home.
"The idea was to publicly embarrass the man," says Tom Rhodes, editor of the
Juba Post, which first ran the story.
Shortly after Tombe brought Rose back to his Juba home, the black-and-white goat gave birth to a male kid.
Villagers, meanwhile, started calling Tombe "The Goat Man," a title he so loathed that he kept to himself, allowing Rose to roam local streets, where it is believed she ate a plastic bag, choked and died this week.
Unlike the Anna Nicole Smith custody battle, however, there's no controversy involving the "couple's" offspring:
Tombe gets to keep the kid.
