Should I dump my friends

The following is a true story from a women’s gathering. All names used in the story are anonymous.

A lot of women are having difficulties with their husbands over the issue of male friends. It has been discovered that a majority of married men are insecure with their wives maintaining male friends when they are married. Some women have been beaten for associating with males and at times chatting to them on social networks.

Sipho was a friend and my high school classmate on Facebook. We were friends before I got married to John and we could have conversations and even give each other advice. Due to the growth in technology, we shifted our conversations to WhatsApp. My husband does not have a Facebook account and he was not aware of the people I befriended. He recently asked for my password as his battery had died and he had to call someone. I shouted the password as I thought it was all innocent.

Things turned out for the worst as he did not only scroll through my contacts list but went as far as reading my conversations on WhatsApp. When I served dinner, I noticed a change and asked if something was wrong. He was silent and I noticed a change in his face. He accused me of cheating on him saying he had evidence from my conversations with Sipho. He was fuming with anger saying that spending a day at work had made me unfaithful as I was cheating behind his back.

I tried explaining who Sipho was but it fell on deaf ears as he was not interested in my story. I tried to reason with him but it was like adding fuel to an already raging fire. He clapped me and as l was still trying to come to terms with it I was down on the floor. I screamed for help and by the time the neighbour, Mr. Moyo arrived, I had been beaten thoroughly with blood oozing from my nostrils. He got hold of my husband who still wanted to punch me and threatened to call the police.

I tried explaining to our neighbour about why I was beaten and my husband kept saying it was a lie. He said he had noticed a change in my behavior and had heard rumours that I was cheating on him. I could not go to work the following morning as my face was bruised. Since that fateful day, he has been observing my calls as well as conversations in order for him to feel secure that I am not cheating. He also goes to an extent of picking me up from work to make sure that I do not have extra marital affairs.

Should I do away with my childhood friend because I am now married?

Is it a crime to have male friends when one is married?

Must I monitor who my partner associates with in order to feel secure in marriage?

Please help this woman