An especially bright Arts student at Nusrat Senior Secondary School has explained how her father was never there for her and her mom after he married a second wife.

Isatou Nyang, 18, said her father ‘indirectly disowned’ them after taking a new wife.

She told What’s On Gambia: “We live under his roof but he doesn’t have our time. I could recall vividly when I was enrolled to Nusrat, my mum had to plead with the administration to allow me to class for the time being in order for her to try and pay my fees.

“It really hurts to see my mother trying so hard to make sure I am educated. She has no job and none of her family members is supporting her. I feel ‘fatherless’ despite living in the same home with my dad.”

Despite her heartache, Isatou said she has no feeling, whatsoever, towards her dad.

“I’ve a strong mother, who is doing everything possible to support me and my siblings,” she said.

Commenting on how men treat their wives in The Gambia, Isatou said: “I hate how they treat their wives, honestly. While their wives are struggling to make ends meet, they are busy looking for new wives. And when they marry these new wives, there is strife and discord within family.”

Isatou disclosed that she wants to work as a gender activist in the future.

She is one of the brightest students in Nusrat Senior and one of her teachers described her as a hardworking young woman with a very bright future.